It's A Wonderful Life, Sasuke
by ugala5777
Summary: Two brothers wish the exact same thing at the exact same time. "I wish I didn't have to live with myself." When their soon-to-be gaurdian angel switches Itachi into Sasuke's body, and Sasuke into Itachi's, what will they learn about each other? NO yaoi
1. Chapter 1

It's oddly remarkable how things in life work. Like coincidences, for example.

A mind-boggling example of a coincidence would be that two brothers from the exact same clan and exact same town were outside on the exact same night at the exact same time looking at the exact same shooting star and wishing the exact same thing and the exact same time.

_I wish I didn't have to live with myself._

The oldest, Itachi, had had a difficult fact to live with. He had been ordered by the Hokage to kill his clan, since his father was plotting to take over Konoha with the rest of the Uchiha clan. Itachi was hated by everyone, and was tired of it. He couldn't bring himself to kill his one brother, Sasuke, and every day, he waited for the moment that Sasuke would find him and avenge the clan.

Was Sasuke ready to face Itachi? Or was he strong enough? Itachi was clueless of these facts, and was tired of waiting to die. He was just simply tired of everything in his depressing life. He was very overcome by sadness and despair

The youngest, Sasuke, on the other hand, was simply angry with his life. Why Itachi had killed their clan, he had no idea. Why he had been left alive, he also had no idea. He wanted nothing but to avenge his clan and kill Itachi. But where was he? It seemed like every time he got closer to his older brother, he would just disappear, and Sasuke would have to track him down all over again.

Sasuke hated everything and everyone. He hated Konoha, his best friends, Sakura and Naruto, his sensei, Kakashi, and, most of all, Itachi. Sasuke was tired of everything in his life as well. And would he ever find and kill Itachi? Would he ever be strong enough? His future held nothing but questions, and he was just plain tired of it. He was very overcome by anger and regret. Regret that he wasn't able to stop Itachi.

At the exact same time, they thought about how stupid this all was. Wishing on a shooting star? Two brothers, complete enemies, thought of as evil criminals, wishing on a star. They couldn't help but smirk as they both thought this.

It's very amazing how it all worked. They had done everything at the same time. Not one second off. Not one half second off. Not anything off.

Little did they know that that night, that moment, would change their lives forever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, this is another short chapter. Don't worry because I'll make the other ones longer. Okay, and I KNOW that I SHOULD be working on my other story, but I'm in the process of brainstorming. And since I know what's going on in this one so far, then I'm just gonna write and publish this one. I'll keep up both stories as best I can, and please review! Thanks, readers. I hope you enjoy!**

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Amane stepped into the biggest room in the palace. A large office. As a newborn angel, she was lucky to be called there.

"Amane, you've arrived. And not a minute late," said a calm voice. The young angel looked up at the grand throne, it's back facing toward her.

"Your majesty." Amane fell to her knees in a low bow. She held her pose for ten seconds, the proper amount of time, before sitting up, still kneeling on the floor. "You… wanted to see me?"

"Yes, it's a pleasure that you're here," said the soothing voice. "Although you are a newborn angel, I have no doubts that you may become one of the best in Heaven. So, I have a task for you to complete."

"Yes, master." Amane had to conceal jumping and shouting for joy at this news.

"I'm glad that you're so thrilled," said the voice. Of course he could see right through the young angel. "Very well, let me show you what your task is. Close your eyes, Amane."

Her eyes slowly, yet automatically closed. She felt God's hand, gently touching her forehead, and she was taken to another dimension.

_I wish I didn't have to live with myself._

Two voices, joining together in perfect unison as one. The voice of two young men, wishing the same thing at the same time. Amane let a jagged sigh escape her lips.

"Now, you may open your eyes."

The hand was taken from her forehead as she opened her eyes. She frowned. It was the two Uchiha brothers, Sasuke and Itachi.

"It seems that their guardian angel hasn't watched them much," the voice said sadly. "Amane, your job is to teach these boys a lesson."

Amane smiled, wondering if she would receive anything."Yes, you will," he said. Amane blushed. "If you can show them what they've never seen before, then I shall grant you wings, and you may stay their guardian angel."

Amane gasped, completely shocked. "B-but I'm just a newborn angel. Can you really do that?"

"Only if you prove yourself," he said. "Now, you're dismissed."

"Oh, thank you, my God."

"I believe in you, Amane. And thank _you_ for being such a wonderful angel."

Amane clumsily got up, twisting her long red hair in her hands. She slowly walked out the gigantic doors, which two guards opened for her. The second the doors closed behind her, she broke into a klutzy run, tripping over her own feet.

Clouds rolled by all around as she ran back to her own mansion. She passed all the silver-haired angels around her. She was very different from the others. As she had long, flaming red hair and matching eyes, all the angels had silvery hair with piercing blue eyes.

_There's perfect angels everywhere. I'm the fish out of water. So, why did he pick _me_ to do this? It's a big task, too. Especially for a newborn angel like me. Well, either way, I'm very honored to be trusted this much by the boss._

"Hey, Amane."

The red-haired angel turned around quickly. There stood the beautiful angel, Himawari. Amane bit her lip.

"Um, hey Himawari. What's up?"

Himawari smirked. "Oh, just glad that I have a higher ranking than YOU, as usual."

"Well, have YOU ever been a guardian angel?"

"Hmph, close to it," said the snobby angel, looking at her nails.

"Okay, then guess who gets the job of a guardian angel, then," said Amane bitterly.

Himawari looked the skinny redhead up and down, then burst out laughing. "Are you trying to tell me that YOU'RE now a guardian angel, or something? Like I'll ever believe THAT!" Himawari wiped a tear from her eye.

Now, Amane smirked. "Hm, just watch. You'll be jealous. Because I'm going to watch over two young men AT THE SAME TIME." Amane continued walking, as her mansion was now in seeing distance. But Himawari kept following her.

"Like I said, if you wish to impress me, prove it." She flapped her gigantic wings in Amane's face tauntingly. "I mean, you don't even have WINGS, yet. Really? Also," she wrapped her arm menacingly around the petite girls shoulders, "look around."

Amane searched the golden streets with her eyes. Every single angel was more fair and beautiful than she was. They practically towered over her.

And every single one had a beautiful pair of blinding white wings.

Amane glared up at Himawari's intense blue eyes. "Well, what's wrong with being different?"

"Everything. I mean, you're like, singled out. A fish out of water." She leaned down to whisper in her ear, "a useless piece of trash."

Before she could stop it, Amane's fist flew in the air and smacked Himawari clean in the nose. And for a short, skinny angel like her, she punched hard. Himawari screamed and held her bleeding nose (which was actually lovely and golden blood, unlike Amane's messed up, sickly green). All the angles passing by stopped in their tracks to stare as Amane ran as fast as she could down the golden paved road and to her mansion.

As she slammed the silver door behind her, she bolted it shut and went upstairs to take a breather. And as usual, the mansion was smaller than everyone else's.

"God loves me, even though I'm not like the others," said Amane to herself. "I'll show them what a great angel I can truly be." And with harsh determination, she began readying herself for her vital task, which she would begin the next day. "I'll show THEM."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ugh, ANOTHER short chapter! Sorry it takes so long between uploads, I've been kind of busy lately. ^_^U Anyways, I'm going to be gone for a while, but I'll be doing LOTS of brainstorming over this time period! Please enjoy this OTHER short chapter! Sorry, in a hurry, you know... Anyways, keep on reading! AND reviewing, please!**

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"Hurry _up_, Itachi, it's time to GO!" Kisame was yelling practically at the top of his lungs.

Itachi adjusted his headband. "One second, Kisame. Just be patient for a second, will you?"

"Ugh," said Kisame, leaving Itachi in his room. They were getting ready for a mission in search of the Kyuubi, although they had failed to kidnap him every time. Itachi was always having to go on this mission, since he was originally from Konoha.

He hated having to go, since he got all homesick every time they showed up at the front gate. But no one knew the truth, anyways.

Itachi turned around to open his door, but what he saw next shocked him. He jumped back and fell on his bed, startled.

He was staring very wide-eyed at an extraordinarily beautiful young woman.

She had long red hair that fell down to her feet and blazing crimson eyes. She was also unusually short. In fact, the top of her head was barely up to Itachi's waist. She was wearing an elegant white gown, which had one side sleeveless and the other a strap was attached. It hugged her body tight on the torso and twisted loosely down around her waist and legs, covering her feet completely. She was nothing Itachi had ever seen before. She was almost like… like an angel.

The woman's red lips curled into a smug smile.

"Itachi," she said. "I've found you."

"Do I know you?" Itachi raised one eyebrow at the angelic girl with the devilish smile. He was surprised he could talk, as he was completely stunned by her marvelous beauty.

"No," the girl said with a shrug, "but I know _you_." She jumped all the way from the door and landed gracefully on the bed beside Itachi. Standing up next to him, she was still shorter, although he was sitting down. "Well, how should I put this?" She was smirking like crazy. "Hmm… Well, I should start by introducing myself. My name is Amane," she said with a bow. "And I'm your guardian angel. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance—"

"Wait," said Itachi. "Do you mind running that by me again? You're my _what_?"

Amane looked at him sympathetically, her lips still holding that tricky smile. "I'm yours and Sasuke's guardian angel. I wasn't expecting you to believe me, though." She sighed, as if life was just one big joke to her before looking Itachi straight in the eyes with an evil giggle. "Let me explain something."

"Wait, again." Itachi stared at the girl who was obviously psycho. "What about my brother Sasuke?"

"Ugh, he is such a pain right now," she said shaking her head. "I'm talking to him, too, and he's really not taking this very well."

"Well, that's Sasuke, for you," said Itachi, staring sadly off in the distance. Amane finally frowned. Then she gave a real sigh. "I know that this is weird. And I know the truth about your clan." Itachi shot his head up to glare at her. "But trust me, I have something for you that will make everything better."

Itachi's eyes flashed. "Nothing can ever turn around what happened that night. And what truth are you talking about?"

"The Hokage? He warned you to kill them all? You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about, young man." The evil smile appeared on her lips again. "Okay, let me tell you why I'm here."

Sasuke slammed against a tree. He could almost feel something binding him there, for as he struggled, he couldn't escape. He was too high up.

"It's useless to try an escape, Sasuke!" The lovely girl with ruby red hair and eyes giggled up at him. She looked unnaturally small from where he was, high up, bound against the tree trunk. He growled down at him.

"Who are you, really?" Sasuke yelled down at her. "Why are you here? And just what do you _want_ from me?"

This girl named Amane just giggled louder. "I _told_ you, I'm your guardian angel! If you would just let me explain—"

"Explain what?" Sasuke raged. "Okay, if you're really an angel, then where are your wings?"

Amane changed from smug immediately to a fury that matched Sasuke's. "As if I don't already get enough shit!" Amane yelled up at him. Sasuke could almost feel thunder in her voice. He winced.

After a moment of silence, Amane calmed down and said quietly, "now, let me tell you a little story." She turned her back on him and looked up at the stars that were shining through the branches on the tree. "Last week, you wished on a shooting star."

_Well, duh,_ thought Sasuke.

"Shut up," said the beauty below him, as though she could tell what he was thinking. Sasuke frowned.

"Well, at the same time, your brother wished the same thing at the same time. Not one moment off. It was… a miracle."

"And how do you even know this?" Sasuke asked from up high on the tree.

Amane turned around. "I'm an angel, dummy. Why can't you listen like Itachi?"  
Sasuke was so angry at this that he couldn't conceal his hatred any longer. "Oh, because Itachi's always been better than me! The so called 'Pride of the Uchiha Clan!' Even though _now_ he's a member of the evil organization 'Akatsuki," he's still perfect in every way! Is that what you're telling me?"

Amane stared up at him sympathetically. "Of course not, Sasuke. Everyone is equal. Boy, this is exactly why you need me. You're life is full of nothing but anger and hatred. And I have something for you that'll make everything better."

"NOTHING can make me better! Don't you see?"

Amane stared at him. "I'll prove that I'm an angel, just wait. You will know!" And in a flash, she was gone, and Sasuke was falling from the top of the tree, and landed with a CRASH on the ground. He stood up, rubbing his tailbone and feeling dizzy.

_What was up with all that?_

Sasuke looked up into the sky before rolling his eyes and saying to himself, "What a liar. Angels aren't even real."

"And I'm telling the truth," Amane finished, beaming proudly.

Itachi just stared at her. After a strange silence, Itachi asked, "So, if you're an angel, then where are your wings? Don't all angels have them?"

Amane frowned furiously. "Augh!" She turned around whipping her hair behind her, which Itachi dodged quickly. Amane hopped off the bed and stood in front of Itachi.

"What is _with_ everyone asking me about my wings? Ugh! It seems like I'm the only one, too!" She looked away from him and shook her head, clearly aggravated. "Seriously, I'll have my wings soon, and then I'll _prove_ it. Actually, I'll prove it right now!"

Itachi gawked at her as her eyes began literally glowing, her hair flowing, as if she was trapped in the wind, and her skin a white light, brighter than the sun. Itachi squinted and felt himself being lifted off his bed and flung through his window into the dark night, shattering the glass. He closed his eyes tight.

As this was happening to Itachi, Sasuke was walking back to Orochimaru's when he too was lifted off the ground and flung through the trees, getting all scratched, and was flying at what seemed like the speed of light. As he closed his eyes, he couldn't quite think properly. What was happening.

Itachi was flying through the sky, Sasuke was flying straight at him. Neither of them quite realized this. But as they soared through the black night, something happened. As if they were spirits, they flew straight through each other. Itachi and Sasuke both felt somehow… different. In a weird way.

Suddenly, Itachi skidded across the ground to a harsh stop. He sat up and groaned his brow furrowed in pain. Suddenly, he came to a realization.

When he had groaned, his voice sounded different.

It sounded like… like Sasuke's voice.

Maybe he was hearing things. He leaned against a tree. "Amane?" He called out into the night.

Wow, and his voice had sounded exactly like his brother's voice!

This must have been a joke.

Itachi opened his eyes, shocked. He looked down to see that he was no longer wearing his Akatsuki robe, but… Sasuke's clothes?

He was wearing no headband.

His hair felt short and spiky.

And he could see very clearly. Nothing was just a messy blur, like it always was.

Ignoring his pain, Itachi stood up, then began running through the trees. This was a dream. It had to be.

But not long after he had stood up, running, he came to a small millpond. He quit running and stopped in his tracks. Did he dare?

Before he could even stop himself, he slowly walked up to the small pond, where the carefree toads were croaking happily. He wished he was one at that moment.

Itachi kneeled down, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath before looking over the edge and into the water.

And all he could do was stare.

For looking right back at him from the water was his little brother. Sasuke Uchiha.


	4. A PMSing Uchiha

**I'm back! Sorry everyone, let me explain! Um, I got back from vacation... and I've been busy babysitting and doing people's dirty work for them. So, please! Spare me! I'll upload much faster than this! *gets pelted with kunai and shuriken* Okay, okay, I promise! Um, ^_^U Enjoy!**

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"Augh…"

Sasuke's eyes reluctantly opened and filled with the light of day. It was strange as he thought he was in his own room, but it was usually dark with a single candle dimly illuminating it.

But next to his bed, there was a window. A very blurry window.

_Where am I?_ Sasuke sat up, wondering what the hell had happened the previous night. He couldn't see anything very clearly, but he knew that he was in a very unfamiliar place.

He was in an unfamiliar bed that was pressed into a corner of what looked like a blood red wall. He couldn't anything else about this unfamiliar room, as his vision was so terrible. It was very aggravating.

Sasuke stumbled out of the unfamiliar bed and ran into a large, black contraption. A dresser? He looked at the top and squinted at the items on it. Although he still couldn't see well, he could tell that he was looking at two picture frames, and something small and cylindrical.

Absolutely puzzled of what was going on, Sasuke turned around and ran his fingers through his long hair.

Wait… Long hair?

His hair was all the way down to his shoulders somehow, and tied back into a ponytail.

"Wha-what the…?" _This is soo a dream. It's not real… But what in the name of hell is going on?_

Beginning to feel rather frustrated, Sasuke suddenly stumbled into something glass. He hit his head on whatever it was and heard a large shatter.

"OUCH!" He put his hand to the top of his head, which was now running with warm, red blood. What had he just run into?

Nervous, the young Uchiha slowly rotated back around, until he saw it. Even with his poor vision, there was no doubt that this was a mirror.

It was merely cracked, but none of the glass had fallen out. The blurry room reflected back through the mirror, with a figure standing right in the middle of it all. Was it Sasuke? It didn't _look_ like him…

The Uchiha jumped, and the figure did the same. He waved at the figure with his right hand, and the figure mirrored it. No doubt it was Sasuke. But there definitely WAS something different about it.

Long hair, for one. As he stepped closer to the shattered mirror, he saw red eyes, Akatsuki-patterned PJ's, and pronounced creases underneath his eyes. He looked just like… like…

The young man was stunned, not believing what he was seeing. This absolutely HAD to be a dream. A very bad dream. He would wake up soon, and everything would be just the way it was before. Yeah… he would be back in the lair with Orochimaru and Kabuto, trying to avoid Konoha, and plotting to kill his brother. It would be just how it should be…

Until a sharp pain ran through his left arm.

"Augh," he said, looking down. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, his eyes were cured, and everything was perfect and clear, just as it should be. But the first thing he saw as he looked down was a small, mischievous redhead.

"Aname," he muttered, narrowing his fixed eyes.

"You're not dreaming, dear," she said, her eyes strangely glowing red. "I had to prove my point of being an angel. And also, I had to teach you and your brother a lesson." Aname tore her serious gaze away from Sasuke's, and at the shattered mirror, with blood running down it from Sasuke's head. "Take another look in the mirror." Her eyes followed all the cracks, which were disappearing with her gaze, until it was once again, a perfectly smooth, clean surface. The little, serious young women looked back at Sasuke and narrowed her eyes. "I _dare_ you!"

"Hmph," replied Sasuke, his usual reply, before cautiously turning back towards the mirror.

Long, lighter black hair that was tied back, wearing Akatsuki-patterned PJ's, and red, intense sharingan eyes. This wasn't Sasuke, but he knew exactly who he was looking at. The man that he hated with all his heart, that he lived for, so he could someday slaughter him. He was an S-Ranked criminal from Konoha, and one of the best shinobi in the ninja world (although Sasuke wouldn't admit this to himself, as he was quite convinced that he was much better).

"Aname," Sasuke said, "what the hell is happening to me?" The Uchiha was clearly panicked.

Aname furrowed her brow, unsympathetically. "I told you, I had to teach you and your brother a little lesson. So, Sasuke. Just guess where Itachi is."

Itachi, being even more clever than his younger brother, thought of this weirdness as some type of trick jutsu. _No way is this jerk any angel_, he thought about the creepishly smug redhead that had to have done this to him.

Itachi had sat by the pond the whole night, wondering if this odd jutsu would wear off that night or not. But once he had fallen into a dreamless sleep for a few hours, then woke up at the break of dawn, nothing had changed. He was still… Sasuke.

The Uchiha pondered for a long time. He had NEVER heard of any jutsu as mad as this. So… What was it, anyways? Some ninja DID have their own special jutsu, so maybe this… Aname THING… had invented it herself.

"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing out here?"

Ew, that voice sounded disgustingly familiar. Former Akatsuki member…

Orochimaru.

Slowly, Itachi rotated his head, so that he could see the pasty-white pedophile staring at him. All that was on the Uchiha's mind was running over and tearing Orochimaru's head off rather violently. Hey, good idea. He was getting weaker, anyways. There wasn't much time before he needed a new vessel, which was Sasuke's body (no shit).

As Itachi stood up, he thought to himself, _Okay, if I run at him really fast, I should be able to just—_

"Orochimaru," came Sasuke's voice. Itachi was all of a sudden speaking, like he couldn't control it. He tried to move his feet, but they wouldn't budge. Orochimaru stood before him, that sickening smile on his face.

"Well? Aren't you going to tell me why you're here and not in your room?" The greasy-black-haired man questioned.

Itachi felt panicked as words kept on rolling out of his mouth (well, I guess Sasuke's mouth, actually) that he couldn't stop. "I was training. And you don't have to follow me everywhere I go. It's… weird."

"Hmm…" The pedophile looked rather pleased. "Well, why don't I train with you down at the dojo?"

The Uchiha shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm nearly out of chakra." And then, Sasuke's feet began moving. Was Sasuke still in his own body? And Itachi was merely a prisoner inside?

He pushed past the ugly snake-man, and to Itachi's surprise, Orochimaru's hideout was just through the trees beyond the small millpond.

_Goddammit! Why didn't I see that before?_ It would have prevented poor Itachi the discomfort of all the poky sticks and rough grass.

_AUGH!_ He wanted to scream.

"AUGH!" Sasuke screamed. "Aname, where are you!"

Stupid, stupid, stupid. This chick was SO not an angel.

Sasuke was standing in the middle of his older brothers room, inhaling and exhaling rather loudly. All he knew was that this wasn't a dream. This was real. He had pinched, slapped, and banged himself against the wall several times (in a way, it felt good, seeing as he was in Itachi's body, which he was abusing :D). But nothing had changed. He was still in Itachi's room in his body…

Which really sucked.

Poor Kisame was in the wrong place at the wrong time as he knocked on the door before opening it, to Itachi's room, big happy smile on his face and a chocolate cake. "Hey, Itachi. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and all. I made you this cake—"

Sasuke grabbed a pillow off of Itachi's bed and chucked it across the room at the tall blue man, hitting him directly in the face. "LEAVE!" Sasuke angrily commanded.  
It was as if someone had taken a rag and washed Kisame's goofy grin off his face. His expression changed instantly to irritated as he dropped his creation of a cake.

"Well, rawr, then!" Kisame stated angrily. "It must be THAT time of the month."

Kisame didn't get another word in before the insane Uchiha chucked his brothers lamp, which also hit Kisame directly in the nose. But of course, this hurt even worse than the pillow.

"OUCH! GODDAMMIT, OKAY! I'M F*CKIN' LEAVING, WOMAN!"

The Hoshigake slammed Itachi's door, and Sasuke could hear his quick footsteps running away, and his faint voice, screaming : "Leader-sama! Itachi is PMSing!"

Sasuke snorted, absolutely livid. He wanted to shred this Aname into microscopic pieces, but she was nowhere to be seen. In fact, he wanted to destroy the world, he was so furious. But… he couldn't. His main focus was to kill Uchiha Itachi. And he only had one idea on how to do it in the current situation.

_If I'm in Itachi's body, then all I have to do is stab him in the heart RIGHT NOW. I don't care if I die, just as long as Itachi's dead, everything is fine by me._

Sasuke smirked to himself. "Now, then," he said out loud. "Where does Itachi keep his weapons?"

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**Um, yeah I've decided to name my chapters, as to not get them mixed up with my other story chapters. And sorry I ended it so soon, and all. I just thought that that was a good ending, and I wasn't sure what else I could add ^_^U Plus, you know. The sooner the better ^^ I'm very sorry-**

**Kisame: Sorry? SORRY! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME IN THIS CHAPTER!**

**Me: Well, not everyone's life is all flowers and butterflies, now, is it?**

**Kisame: I hate flowers and butterflies.**

**Me: Well, SORRY I'm not perfect. Sheesh. Maybe it's THAT TIME OF THE MONTH!**

**Kisame: Hey, shut the hell up!**

**Me: Okay, I'm done here.**


	5. Awkward Moments

**Hey guys! Sorry I didn't make this chapter longer, but I wanted to upload it ASAP, as I hate cliffhangers... like my last chapter. Besides, I have to go and get ready for church soon, and I wanted to get it done before then :)**

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"Oh, SAAAASUUKEEEE!" Orochimaru called in a girlish voice, knocking on the door to his bedroom.

This was the disturbing thing that Itachi woke to.

The pitiful Uchiha popped his eyes open and groaned as he sat up, annoyed. It was such a drag that he had to live with stupid Orochimaru now. I mean, he left the Akatsuki and all…

Itachi had delivered the news to Pein. "Orochimaru… has left the Akatsuki."

Pein stared at Itachi blankly. "Wait… what?"

"You heard me, Orochimaru is gone. Do I have to say it again?"

The leader cocked his head to one side. "But… why did he leave?"

Itachi sighed. "Well, we were on our mission, when he tried to kill me so that I can be his next 'vessel,' or whatever. So… I punched him in the face and he let me go. Then he ran away, screaming… um… yeah. He also said that he would never come back."

Pein seemed to be intensely taking this in as Itachi spoke of what had happened earlier that day. He nodded slowly as Itachi told the story. When Itachi finished speaking, there was a pause, before he apologized. "I'm sorry, but I wasn't able to complete the mission, with all of THAT happening."

Another pause before Rinnegan-eyed man stated: "Itachi, I'm surprised at you. You have NEVER failed to complete a mission before…"

The Uchiha bowed down to his leader. "I apologize, leader-sama. I promise to complete the mission next time, no matter what happens."

And to his utter surprise, the leader grew a freakishly smug smile on his face. "That doesn't matter, Itachi. Orochimaru is gone!" Pein took Itachi's shoulders and aggressively pushed them so that Itachi was now standing in an upright position. "I'll send Kakuzu and Hidan to finish your mission tomorrow. But Itachi, I always knew that you were the best ninja in this organization! Orochimaru IS a good ninja and all, but now we don't have to worry about him raping anyone again!" Pein's smug smile had turned into a humungous, goofy grin by now, and he was jumping up and down in excitement, that no one had ever seen before… It was especially weird that such a solemn man could still have so much enthusiasm in him. "Well done, son! Well done! This… CALLS FOR A CELEBRATION! WHOOPIE!"

All the young Uchiha could do was stare in wide-eyed shock as his leader literally bounced off the walls (and yes, I mean literally) before running outside of his candle-lit office slamming the door, leaving Itachi gawking behind. The Uchiha was frozen in place, listening to his leader running up and down the halls, and the stairs, screaming ("OROCHIMARU'S GONE, EVERYONE! LET'S PARTY!"). His footsteps sounded like they were too fast to even be possible, as if it were everyone in the Akatsuki running around instead of just one, disturbing man.

Pein's party had only lasted about five minutes before Pein was the only drunk one and Deidara and Hidan had locked him in a closet to merrily laugh with himself.

Itachi did nothing but think that night. Could this possibly be his new worst night ever?

And what made matters worse was that the next day, Pein acted like himself. As serious as ever. Like he was not hung-over. Like he had not just done the most creepish thing of all time the previous day. Not another word was said about it. No one wanted to remember that awful night.

Yes, Itachi was now scarred for life, worse than anyone else in the organization, as he had seen it all first.

Itachi shuddered at the horrible memory, that he only wished to forget as he slipped on one of Sasuke's shirts (he didn't want the pedophile to see his little brother… exposed) and opened the door. Only to see his former partner-in-crime standing right there, trying to look sexy… *awkward…*

"Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru drawled, placing a blinding white hand on Sasuke's head, pissing off his older brother who dwelled inside (although the IDIOT had no idea). "It's time to train! Let us go down to the dojo!"

Itachi slapped Orochimaru's hand off of his head (was this really what Sasuke had to go through EVERY SINGLE DAY?). "I have a headache, and I'm not up for training," the Uchiha hastily stated. Then, not a second after he had spoken, slammed the door and locked it behind.

Itachi leaned against the door, panting as he slid down to the floor. He was a wreck.

"Aname," he muttered. "Where are you?"

"Sasuke-kun? Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru was still pounding on the door.

Itachi sighed, still wanting to kill the stupid idiot outside.

"Yes, Itachi. This is what your brother goes through every day."

The Uchiha felt something on his left shoulder, and looked up to see the most beautiful face ever, for once holding pity and seriousness.

"Aname," Itachi growled. "Why is this happening? What nonsense is…" He motioned to Sasuke's body. "…This?"

Aname, who was gracefully seated on Itachi's shoulder, closed her eyes and sighed. "It's for your own good, Itachi-san. I mean, Sasuke's not happy about it either, or anything. In fact, yesterday he literally went crazy. I just feel sorry for Kisame…"

"Wait… what?" Itachi looked up at Aname, puzzled. Aname gulped.

"Um, he attacked Kisame…" she said, drifting off.

"And?" Itachi asked.

Aname just looked up. "That's it," she said.

But for some reason, Itachi didn't believe her. However, he asked no more questions.

Sasuke was fishing through Itachi's closet, only to pull out exactly what he was looking for.

A small brown pouch, full of a ninja's weapons.

Sasuke smirked and opened it up before pulling out exactly what he had been looking for. A sharp, metal, kunai.

He had hoped to kill his brother in a more painful way, but he wasn't going to let this opportunity swing by. He HAD to take advantage of it.

Sasuke felt a rush of adrenaline as he held the blade up to Itachi's chest, feeling the sharp end poke where his heart was thumping with thrill and excitement.

"See you in hell, Itachi." Sasuke said before madly laughing. At least he would die happy.

And with that said, he lifted the blade and thrust it towards Itachi's heart…

…Before a small hand stopped it.

Sasuke had drawn blood, but it had only stabbed through a few layers of flesh before he saw a little, angry woman staring furiously back at him, her hand gripping the blade of the sharp kunai. Emerald green liquid was dripping from the girl's hand and dripping down the Uchiha's chest, along with the red blood.

A furious silence engulfed the two as they stared into each other's eyes. Sasuke was livid as he dried to dig the blade deeper into the chest of his brother. But the short girl was much stronger than she looked. For she ripped the blade from his hand, red and green liquid drizzling down the blade (it looked rather like Christmas, although neither were thinking of this, as the moment was very intense between them).

"Aname," Sasuke grumbled.

The fire-haired girl grabbed the pouch beside her feet, stuffed the kunai inside, and the Uchiha stared in anger as it faded away in her hands.

"You will NOT do this," Aname said, folding her arms.

Sasuke curled his hand in a fist and attempted to punch Aname square in the face. But it was as if she had a force field, as he bounded backwards onto his brother's bed, knocking his head against the window, which was cracked with the great force.

Aname's eyes seemed to glow with fierce anger and hatred as she glided over to where Sasuke leaned against the window, looking rather upset.

Well, it got worse for the poor young man, because the next thing he knew, Aname was standing on the bed, holding his shirt collar, and slapping him across the face while saying, "What the hell is WRONG with you? Pull yourself together, idiot!"

"Ouch! Okay, okay!" Sasuke was yelping. "I promise I won't do it again!" It was as if this girl had electric metal fists (so it really sucked to be Sasuke at the moment). D:

Aname abruptly stopped. She still looked as scary as ever as she quietly stated, "I'll make sure of that." Then she inspected the window before it became smooth glass once again beneath her gaze. She did the same with the wound on the Uchiha's chest. Sasuke sighed in disappointment.

The young girl solemnly seated herself next to the young man and gently looked into his eyes. "Look, Sasuke. I know how much you despise Itachi. Trust me."

"Hmph," Sasuke said, looking away from Aname. She sighed and stared straight ahead of herself.  
"But there are SO many things that you don't know about him. And I mean, there are a lot of things that you have to learn about your brother. And the same goes to him. In fact, Sasuke," Aname looked up at him with a kind smile, while Sasuke angrily looked back at her, "once you learn how to respect your brother, I'll let you see something that will reveal everything about him."

Sasuke sweatdropped, considering how wrong that sounded.

Upon seeing this, Aname's happy expression soon changed to shock. "No! No! NO! That is SO NOT what I meant! Like, not… PHYSICALLY. Ugh, I can't tell you right now. You have to learn some respect, first."

There was an awkward silence, as if a gay baby had been born.

* * *

**Ahehehe... ^_^U Sorry about the suckish ending...**

**Anyways, I would like to thank all those who are reading my fanfics. ****So, thank you, everyone who is currently reading this! You guys are amazing, and I'll check out your fics, too!**

**Also, ****I would like to give a VERY special thanks to Echo Uchiha, who reads/reviews my fanfics tons! Echo Uchiha, whenever I see your reviews, I just smile :) So thank you soo very much! And I hope you enjoy the rest of this and my other fic, "More Than A Feeling" (which I desparately need to work on ^_^U). Once again, thank you!**

**So, I'll upload ASAP, but remember, I have another fic I'm working on, and I have but one more month of freedom until "IT" begins. :,-( So I'll work work work work work work work work work quickly. ^^**


	6. Itachi's OOC Moment

**WHOO! I am just having SOO much fun writing this fic! So expect an upload like, every day! Maybe even TWICE a day! In fact I'm about to work on the next chapter, but I can't promise that I'll put it up today. I hope so, though! So, anyways, enjoy this chapter!**

**P.S., I would like to notify you that this chapter is mildly disturbing... even to me. But still, enjoy!**

* * *

Kabuto had a black eye.

Him, Orochimaru, and a disguised Itachi all sat around a circular table in the candle-lit kitchen in dead silence as Kabuto fumed in his own chair. Orochimaru and Itachi were both staring blankly at the angered shinobi, staring off into space, lost in his own hatred.

"Well? Aren't you going to tell us what happened?" Orochimaru finally piped up.

Kabuto was shaking angrily. "Nar…u…to…"

That seemed the only thing that he could mutter out.

The tips of Orochimaru's eyebrows arched downwards. "So, they're trying to take Sasuke, hmm?" His pasty cheeks turned red as he gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists.

Kabuto glanced at him, his angered expression turning to somewhat upset. "They will NEVER give up. EVER. That fox kid will do anything to get his best friend back, and there is NO stopping him." Kabuto was now purely livid again. "He's a f*cking gennin, and he's f*cking invincible. I just don't get it!"

Orochimaru was now standing up. Itachi was watching the whole scene, not quite knowing what to think. Now, Orochimaru was staring intently over at him. "Sasuke, we will protect you with our LIVES! The Kyuubi shall NOT get you!"

Itachi was gawking at the pedophile, who was now at his side, combing his pasty fingers through the Uchiha's blue-ish-black hair.

Okay, and that was just taking it too far.

Orochimaru was touching Itachi's BABY BROTHER! In a very freakishly inappropriate way!

"Sasuke-kunnn…" Orochimaru sickeningly dragged his name out, and his cheeks were no longer a furious red, but a rosy pink. Instead of his pitch-black eyebrows slanting angrily downward, they were furrowed with affection. And his eyes… did they really have HEARTS in them!

"GET AWAY!" Itachi couldn't help but shriek. He punched the disgusting old man in his snake-like face. The punch sent him flying through the wall.

"O-Orochimaru! OROCHIMARUUUUUUUU!" Kabuto had leapt up from his chair and was running over to the broken-through wall, concern written all over his face.

"Augh! AUGH!" Orochimaru, with the help of his gray-haired subordinate, was now sitting up, staring desparately at his beloved Sasuke-kun. The Uchiha's eyes were full of pure hatred as he turned and dashed out of the kitchen and through the confusing halls, all the way to his brother's room.

And all the while, he could hear Orochimaru, screaming his brothers' name in desperation.

"NOOO! SASUKE-KUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN!"

As Itachi closed the door behind him, sweat was immensely dripping down his face, and he was shaking with fury.

Orochimaru was SO dead if he ever tried to rape Sasuke… Itachi could relate…

Good thing the Uchiha's were both excellent shinobi!

The Uchiha leaned his head against the door briefly before turning around, only to see a little red-haired imp staring up at him, arms folded.

And she did NOT look happy.

"A-Aname…" Itachi stuttered.

"I have to talk to you." Her voice was evil and monotone.

"Wh-what did I do!"

Aname's expression suddenly grew rather awkward. "Um, you didn't do anything wrong… it's just that… I talked to Sasuke… and… I realized that… I… made a mistake."

Itachi shook his head, puzzled. "What?"

Aname fiddled with her fingers. "Um… Well, I said something to Sasuke. And he took it the wrong way. So then I realized… It must be very… _awkward_… to um… well… I mean—"

"Look, don't strain yourse—" Itachi began to say, and then stopped short. Because he knew what she was trying to tell him. And yes, it WAS rather awkward.

Itachi sweatdropped. "Uhh, don't worry about it! I… haven't seen anything! I haven't looked, or whatever! Um, so don't worry about it!"

Aname looked back up at him. "Well, I hope not!"

Itachi was blushing like crazy. "I'm not a pervert, bitch! Seriously, Sasuke is my BROTHER! Why in the WORLD would I even WANT to see that!" Itachi was starting to get hysterical

Aname now had her hands over her eyes while shaking her head rapidly from side to side, and was also going hysterical. "Ew, disgusting! Don't EVEN try putting that image in my head!"  
Itachi was sweating so hard, there was a puddle on the ground. "AUGH! I wasn't trying to! Now YOU put the image in MY head! What the HELL!" It had been a long time since the Uchiha had freaked out like this.

Then…

"!"

Aname's high-pitched scream filled the room, clashing with Itachi's deeper yell. The two of them just sat there and screamed for what seemed like forever until Itachi pulled himself together and rushed over to squat at the girl's side, clamping his hand over her tiny mouth. His hand wrapped halfway around her head.

"Shit! Orochimaru is probably going to hear!"

This shut Aname up, and they stayed in that position in silence. Now this seemed to last forever.

Finally, Aname took Itachi's hand in both of hers and removed it from her red lips. Orochimaru apparently hadn't heard all the commotion (he was sitting in his room with all this chocolate, heartbroken), or he would be at the Uchiha's side instantly…

Which was unwanted.

Aname looked into the Uchiha's eyes, and that's when Itachi noticed something. Her cheeks were a rosy pink, like Orochimaru's back in the kitchen. She gazed at him longingly, but Itachi didn't quite know what to think about this.

Was she thinking about Sasuke, or him?

His question was soon answered: "Itachi…" she quietly said.

Itachi looked at her sparkling red eyes, and he could feel his own cheeks turning a rosy pink. He started to notice something else about her…

But he couldn't quite tell what it was, for Aname let go of his hand and blinked her eyes, which were lined with beautiful thick lashes, before turning away from the young man.

"Well, I should go." The angel rotated her head around to look back at Itachi, her eyebrows furrowed. Then she sighed and looked away again.

"Wait," Itachi said. The redhead looked back at him. "When can I have my own body back?"

Aname shook her head. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

A brief silence passed. But a lot ran through Aname's head in that short time. This was difficult. Itachi had such a kind personality, and he was rather good looking. But what could she do? I mean, he was in Sasuke's body, and Sasuke was in his. And she didn't want Sasuke. So it was hard, even though she had done this to them. She was almost tempted to switch them back into their own bodies as Itachi had asked just then, but that would be… selfish. And nothing good would come out of it. She just wanted him to learn his lesson and be happy. And stay happy forever.

In such a short time, she had found she was attracted to a man she was hardly acquainted with. This HAD to mean something.

"Um, okay," she finally said. Then she pasted a smile on her face. "See ya later!"

And with that, she was gone.

* * *

**Mmmhmmm, wayyyy OOC.**

**Sorry for the abrupt ending! I didn't know what else would make a better ending, SOOOOO... yeah.**

**Also, ****I would like to thank ou8smileydeath and AnimeFreak10347 for inspiring this chapter. Thanks, guys, and enjoy the rest! ^_^**


	7. Orochimaru Is A Creep

**Hey, and guess what? I MADE THIS CHAPTER LONGER THAN USUAL! WHOOP!**

**I guess it's not THAT much longer, but hey. At least I was dillegent. ^_^**

* * *

Another gay baby was born.

Poor Sasuke.

He was alone with Kisame in his room. But what made it so awkward…

"Kisame," Sasuke said.

The blue man looked up. "What is it, Itachi?"

"Um," he said awkwardly. "Why is everyone in the Akatsuki…" He held up his hand, "required to have purple nails?"

Kisame blinked at him. "Well, I'd think that you'd be used to it by now," he stated before looking back down at his own nails.

"It makes me feel gay," Sasuke said, looking down at his ruined fingertips.

Kisame raised his eyebrow at the incognito Sasuke. "Why does it bother you so much all of a sudden? I mean, you've never said anything about it until today." Kisame brushed a shiny coat of purple over the index finger of his right hand and muttered, "I swear, something is wrong with you lately. Ever since we found you in Suna—"

"Wait, what about Suna?" Sasuke interrupted.

"Oh, no one told you?" Kisame looked slightly cross. "I WAS going to tell you a few days ago, but instead I ended up with a bloody nose."

Sasuke smirked. "Yeah, I don't know what came over me," he said casually as he sloppily coated his nails in dark purple.

Kisame watched him do this. "Dude, and now you can't even paint them? I'd think that after all these years…"

Sasuke looked up. "Um… I'm… having a hangover?"

There was another awkward silence.

"Nuh-uh," Kisame finally stated. "I swear, you have like, multiple personalities. Like I said, ever since we found you in Suna, you have been so f*ckin' weird."

_Augh, stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ He felt like banging his head against the wall.

Kisame looked up. "Yeah, you know our last mission we were assigned?"

Sasuke nodded his head, not quite sure.

"Well, you were over there being a slowpoke, so I was just waiting for you, then there was this huge crash. So I ran upstairs with Deidara and Hidan, and… well, your window was like, broken, and you were gone." Kisame screwed the nail polish lid on. "After getting a new window, we went to find you."

"And getting a new window is the first priority here?" Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

"Well…" Kisame trailed off. "Um, anyways… yeah, like, the next day we found you by the entrance of Suna. And dude, you looked pretty terrible. We still have no idea what happened… but I'm guessing that you don't, considering how hard you must have hit your head. I mean, look at you, man! You are just so… different!"

Sasuke shrugged. "So?"

Kisame was going insane. "SEE? That is just NOT you! And… I mean, you don't even tie your hair back anymore. Everything is different!"

The Uchiha combed his newly painted fingers through his long hair. "I don't know, I just think it looks better down, lately."

Kisame cocked his head to the side and uttered four words. "Son of a bitch."

And, I guess you could see why this would affect Sasuke so much.

The young man stood up, rage filling his eyes as he looked down at his brother's teammate. "Don't you EVER say that to me again!" Before picking up a lamp off the dresser.

"Dude! What is it with you and trying to kill me with LAMPS!" Kisame shrieked as Sasuke tackled him onto the wood-paneled floor and hit him rather vigorously on the head. His eyes seemed to have fire in them.

"You. Are. Such. A. F*cking. Whore." Every word had its own hit to poor, innocent Kisame's spiky blue head.

The shark looked around (as much as he was limited) desparately, looking for something to defend himself (Itachi was much stronger than Kisame thought!). Itachi was beginning to draw BLOOD! Lucky for him, he saw his awesome shark-skin sword, wresting in the corner by his closet, barely out of reach. As he extended his hand toward it, his fingertips brushed the handle, and he was beginning to feel rather giddy, although he was still getting beaten to a bloody pulp by his partner.

Yes! His hand was now wrapped around his sword—

But too bad the two of them were behind the door. Especially unfortunate for Kisame.

Because right then, the door precariously swung open.

And there stood Kakuzu.

"Itachi, leader-sama wishes to speak to you," he said looking at the two behind the door. It didn't seem to phase him at all.

Sasuke gave one last blow to Kisame's head before DROPPING the lamp on it again. Then he stood up, and walked outside the room. Kakuzu slammed the door, leaving poor Kisame alone, lying on the ground, to wallow in his own misery.

Well, at least the sword didn't land on him after that.

Whoops! Too late… D:

"Sasuke-kun."

Itachi looked up at the ugly voice, saying his name in a wannabe sexy way. This could only mean one thing.

Orochimaru.

His stalker was leaning against the wall of the dojo, and he had somehow entered without Itachi noticing. Wow, this was going to be ugly.

Itachi backed away as Orochimaru moved forward, shutting the door of the dojo. It was so dark, except for the occasional candles here and there.

"Sasuke-kun, you're not going anywhere."

A large snake shot out of his throat and wrapped itself around the Uchiha's body, binding him tightly (disgusting!). This made him lose his balance, and he fell right on his rear end. He couldn't seem to get back on his feet, so he proceeded to scoot away as fast as he could, hoping that Orochimaru wouldn't do something too… ewh.

This was terrible. Orochimaru was seducing his LITTLE BROTHER! Was this the first time it's happened! How many times had Sasuke been seduced like this!

No, he couldn't let Orochimaru do this to him. He HAD to do something. Just PLEASE don't let him rape his BABY BROTHER.

"Do NOT come NEAR me!" Itachi shouted. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Nothing happened. Orochimary laughed merrily.

"With that snake wrapped around you, there's no way ANY defense jutsu would work. It's pointless to get away, Sasuke."

Itachi panted as the snake coiled up even tighter, nearly suffocating him. Blood rushed to his head. He still scooted away as Orochimaru neared…

Until he hit against the corner of a wall.

_Oh, shit._

That was the only thought that ran through Itachi's mind as Orochimaru cornered him, bending down to stroke the face of his younger brother.

_I have to do something! Fast!_

With his lighting fast reflexes, the Uchiha banged his head against the freaky pedophile, making him stand back up straight. As he rubbed his head, screaming "OUCH!" (he had headbanged him pretty hard.), Itachi pushed his back against the wall, the force causing him to stand as well. Then, he KICKED Orochimaru RIGHT IN THE BALLS. Hard. So hard, in fact, that he went flying across the room, breaking through the wall. As Orochimaru was groping his balls in shock and pain, Itachi ran through the break in the wall, jumped on Orochimaru's groin a couple times for good measure, and ran as fast as he could without losing balance, as the snake was still wrapped tightly around him.

But he didn't just run to Sasuke's room like last time.

Itachi ran like FOREST GUMP.

He had made his way outside, and was furiously running through the woods at lightning speed. He was not going to stop for anything, until he was on the other side of the world. He didn't care if the snake was cutting off his circulation and oxygen at the same time. He would get out of there as soon as possible, just to protect Sasuke from the rapist.

And he WASN'T going back.

As he ran, he yelled to the skies, "Aname! Aname, where are you!"

There was a silence, which only his quickly-moving feet broke. Until he felt something on his right shoulder. Aname had showed up.

"Itachi!"

Itachi couldn't look up at her, as he was concentrating both on balance and not running into the trees. "Well, what do you have to say about WHAT JUST HAPPENED!"

"I-I don't know!"

"Yes you do! Explain!"  
"No, I really don't! Okay, that was just as shocking to me as it was to you! But Itachi," her voice grew quiet and soft, "you're doing the right thing. Sort of."

"What do you mean, 'sort of'?" the shinobi asked.

"You're protecting your brother, of course, but that's all you're thinking about. I mean, you need to actually SEE things through HIS eyes. Not your own. That's why I switched you guys. I mean, I want you to see what his life is like, and I also want you to make sure you protect him and all, but… do you think Sasuke would just run away like this? The thing is, he WANTS to stay. Even though Orochimaru is a freaky whore."

Itachi abruptly stopped, nearly causing the redhead to fall off his shoulder. He looked up at her. "Look, Aname." He looked rather sorrowful. "I'm just… I've never been more worried about Sasuke in my life. I guess I had an idea, but… this is my BROTHER we're talking about. Do you really expect me to just stay there and let him get…" he shuddered, "you know."

"Itachi," Aname said gently, brushing his cheek with her hand (which felt much better than Orochimaru doing it). "You ARE Sasuke, now. That's the point. I mean, this is the best way to get to know your brother. That's what I want to see. You actually TRYING to get to know him."

Itachi sighed and leaned against a nearby tree, weary. "I knew him very well once," he recalled. "I want him to be powerful and strong enough to kill me and avenge our clan. It's just so difficult to see how much he's changed. And what he has to live with. I just can't help but wonder what he feels like all the time." He looked up at Aname. "I wanted to give him a motivation to work hard, since I couldn't bring myself to kill him. But I never thought that he would join forces with that…" he looked back in the direction he was running, "THING."

Aname was now running her fingers through his hair. "You must have gone through a lot. But, in reality, you're a HERO. Nobody knows it, but it's true. Even though you've had to suffer so much emotional pain, look at what you've done in a good way. Be proud for rescuing the village and brother you so love."

_Konoha_.

Aname spoke again. "Some people have it so much easier than others, and it's not fair. They're… spoiled brats. They look past what they have, and take it for granted. Itachi,"

He looked up at her. "You have so much, but you just don't know it. Sure, you've lost a lot, but you've also gained a lot. Maybe it's all not what you wanted, but you should still be grateful for what you have and who you are. And do your best to only look back at the good memories. I know it's hard, but… I just want you to be happy. That's all."

The Uchiha's eyes widened as she said this. Aname broke his gaze and looked away into the clouds for a few moments before turning back to him. "Itachi, it's time for you to go back to Orochimaru's lair."

Itachi sighed, barely realizing how much of a relief it was to be away from that hell. But he decided he had better listen if he wanted to get something out of all this. But first…

"Aname, before you leave… um, thanks." Aname looked back down at him

Then, even though he was in his brothers' body, he leaned up and planted a kiss on her cheek, right below her left eye. Aname's eyes grew wide, and she blinked, shocked.

But Itachi just smiled right back up at her. A real smile, something he hadn't done in so long.

And, to tell the truth, he thought it felt good. Like a large burden was being lifted from his shoulders.

Aname smiled, keeping tears back in her eyes. This was what she wanted to see. Itachi was happier than he had been in a long time.

And THAT was what she wanted the most.

* * *

**Kisame: Gosh, why do like to hurt me so much!**

**Me: Look, I have nothing against you, it's just that... you and Itachi are partners. So that makes things more realistic.**

**Kisame: Suck it.**

**Me: HEY! At least I'm not gay!**

**Kisame: I'm not gay! I'm FORCED to have purple nails!**

**Me: Whatever. Anyways, thanks for reading so far! Trust me, I'll stay dilligent! ^_^**


	8. Sasuke Encounters Tobi

**Hey, everyone! I just wanted to apologize about not uploading yesterday. I had a stupid photoshoot to do. But I made this chapter longer, since I just kind of write, ya know. It just happens ^_^ So y'all should be grateful I don't get writers' block. ^-^**

**So, enjoy this long chapter!**

* * *

Sasuke walked into Pein's office.

It was dark and solemn, just like Orochimaru's lair. Although he had to admit, that over the past week he had liked the Akatsuki better than being stuck with Orochimaru attempting to rape him.

There was a desk that Pein sat at, staring at Sasuke intently. Then, without turning to look at him, Pein spoke to Kakuzu: "Thank you, Kakuzu. You are dismissed."

Without saying another word, Kakuzu turned and shut the door. Pein was still staring at Sasuke, which was making him feel rather uncomfortable.

So… was this guy like how Orochimaru acted with Sasuke… only with Itachi?

But then he finally spoke. "Now that Kakuzu's gone," he said. In the split second before he finished his sentence, Sasuke expected to get cornered and get… um… intensely kissed (awkward…).

But instead, Pein had said the unexpected. He turned to the pitch dark shadows in the back right corner of the room. "Madara, Itachi has arrived."

Wait… Madara? Madara _Uchiha_!

Sasuke stared into the shadows in wide-eyed shock as a man stepped out of the darkness. And who was it?

None other than the idiot Tobi.

On Sasuke's third day of his arrival in the Akatsuki, he found himself sitting around the kitchen table with a bunch of the other pretty awesome members, which included: Kisame, Sasori, Deidara, Hidan, Konan, Kakuzu, and Zetsu.

None of them said a word. They all just stared off into space on their own, which lasted about an hour.

It was very boring.

"Well, this is _fun_," Kisame sarcastically broke the silence.

"F*ckin' NOT," Hidan stated from his own seat next to his best friend Deidara, who was the next to speak.

"What should we do, un?" He questioned the other members.

There was a long, awkward pause as the members pondered.

"I say we watch Pinocchio," Sasori said casually.

"But I'm sick of that movie. You watch it EVERY SINGLE F*CKIN' DAY." Konan exasperatedly sighed.

All the other members, including Sasuke (who had learned this as well over the last couple of days) nodded in frustrated agreement, some of them groaning.

Just about at this point, the door too the kitchen flew open, and there stood an orange-masked shinobi Sasuke had not yet encountered.

"Oh. F*ck." Hidan said at the sight.

Konan slapped her palm to her forehead.

Kisame had the most annoyed expression

"Oh, shit," said Sasori.

Zetsu gulped.

Kakuzu just sat there grumbling something.

Sasuke stared blankly.

And poor Deidara looked like he was about to cry.

There was a long, intense silence as the eight ninja stared back at the one standing in the doorway, looking at each of them through the black hole in his mask.

Then, as suddenly as he had burst into the kitchen, his gaze focused on Deidara.

"DEIDARA-SEMPAI!" He happily screeched. Sasuke winced at his awful voice.

"Oh, shit," Deidara said.

It all happened in slow motion for poor Deidara. Tobi was running quickly over to him, his arms extended as hearts and flowers fell all around him. You could pretty much see him blushing with happiness through his lollipop-like mask.

And then he wrapped his arms around Deidara, hearts popping all over the place. The other members stared in horror as all this happened.

"Tobi is a good boy! TOBI IS A GOOD BOY! Play with Tobi, Deidara-Sempai! Tobi is bored and Tobi is a good boy!"

"Augh! GET THE F*CK OFF OF ME!"

Tobi did not let go.

"Well, that's my cue to leave," Kakuzu said. "Besides, I have sewing to work on." He looked down at his stitched-up wrist before walking out of the kitchen.

"Um, yeah. I haven't watched Pinocchio today, and I'm working on a Sakura puppet."

"Wait, you killed the pink bitch?" Sasuke asked, shocked.

"No, I haven't. But I'm planning to. So I have to… uh, brainstorm." Then the nervous redhead ran out of the kitchen.

"I, uh… forgot to make origami flowers for Pein's uh… labor day?" Konan obviously wasn't working very quickly in the head that day. She stood up and ran out of the kitchen.

"I have a hot date," White Zetsu said.

"**With a Venus Flytrap**" added Black Zetsu before calmly leaving the room.

"I'm off to pray to Jashin-sama," Hidan casually said before hurriedly rushing out of the kitchen.

"Wait, Hidan! STOP, HIDAN!" Deidara cried out desparately as Tobi kept saying "Tobi loves Deidara-sempai! Tobi is a good boy!"

Before Kisame could make up his own excuse, Sasuke stopped him.

"Hey, Kisame… um, who is that?"

Kisame looked at him as if he were a llama that had just spit in his face. "You don't remember TOBI! Of ALL people, you should remember HIM. I swear, you hit your head… HARD."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, not quite following the shark-resembling man. "Uh, yeah sure. Whatever."

Kisame awkwardly stood up. "I'm going to take a swim. Bye!" Then he ran outside.

That left three shinobi alone in the kitchen: Deidara, Tobi, and Sasuke, disguised as his brother.

"Awh, F*CK MY LIFE!" Deidara yelled in Sasuke's direction. "DO something, Itachi!"

At the mention of Itachi's name, Tobi looked up and stared straight at Sasuke.

_Oh, shit._

"Itachi-san! You're alive!"

"Wait, what? No shit, idiot!"

But that didn't stop Tobi from exitedly rushing over and ruffling his untied hair.

"HEY!" Sasuke yelled before falling off his chair and hitting his head on the tile floor.

"Oh, f*ck."

Deidara couldn't help but smile. "Well, Itachi, I'm going to go and make my next claymation in my YouTube series. You know, you can't keep fans all over the world waiting for long. Have fun!"

Then Sasuke was alone with Tobi.

We'll tell the rest after this short time period back in reality! :D

"You? What the hell is HE doing here?" Sasuke frantically asked Pein, motioning to the masked man. "And WHY did you just call him Madara?"

"Itachi, I understand that you had quite a… flight. And you hit your head pretty hard," the masked man said calmly. "So let me explain something to you."

He paused, staring at Sasuke, who could now see his one Sharingan eye. "Go on," he said impatiently.

"Itachi, you, Konan, Pein, and Nagato are the only ones that know I'm THE Madara Uchiha, founder and owner of the Akatsuki. The Akatsuki only has one goal— create world peace.

Sasuke let loose a chuckle. He got a death glare from the other two shinobi in the room. So he silenced himself before Madara continued.

"I'm the one that everyone thought was long past dead, but in truth, I am the one that helped you kill off the rest of our clan. Then, because of your slaughtering your best friend and family, you obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan. And you are staying alive on medication."

"The Mangekyou Sharingan," Sasuke was saying to himself. "One can obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan by killing one close to them. Everyone's Mangekyou is different, just like human fingerprints, each unique in its own way. Also, it slowly deteriorates your vision until you become blind and can see no more. It is a very dangerous hekkei-genkai to possess, and slowly brings you to death as each day passes. Although it happens gradually and can live for a few years, unless on special medication." Wow, he knew more about the Mangekyou Sharingan than he thought.

"Um, Itachi. We KNOW about the Mangekyou Sharingan. But thank you for the oral report, I guess," Madara said from his corner.

"I have one question, _Madara_," Sasuke said bitterly. "If you knew that I knew that you were Madara, why were you bothering me in the kitchen that one day?"

Madara suddenly giggled before guiltily scratching his head. "Sorry, I was just having a lot of fun," he said happily.

Back to Sasuke's flashback…

"No, stay away," Sasuke said, now standing in an upright position. It was too late. He had been deserted by all his fellow Akatsuki members (well, they were technically Itachi's fellow Akatsuki members, but they thought he was still Itachi, so whatever).

Sasuke growled, thinking about what an asshole Deidara was when Tobi playfully pounced on him. He was hugging his neck and had his legs wrapped around the Uchiha's body, clinging onto the right side of him. Sasuke struggled to stay standing.

"Play with me, Itachi! Tobi is a good boy! And Tobi LOVES Itachi-san!"

"Get off me, bitch!" Sasuke yelled, attempting to push Tobi off of him.

"Tobi is a good boy, not a bitch… whatever that means!" Now hearts were popping all over Sasuke, who was grief-stricken over the whole situation. Too bad Itachi's weapons were so cruelly taken away from him.

Holy cow, Tobi was now climbing up him like a monkey, He was now sitting on the Uchiha's shoulders and hugging his head, covering his eyes as well.

"Tobi is bored, Itachi! Tobi wants to make ramen!" (Whoa, I just had déjà vu! Okay, sorry. Back to the story…)

Oh, shit. This was going to be ugly.

So Sasuke was forced to stay in the kitchen while Tobi merrily made brownies. It was as if this Tobi dude had eyes in the back of his head, because whenever Sasuke tried to stand up from the kitchen table to sneak away, Tobi would freak out."

"No, Itachi! You can't leave Tobi! Tobi is a good boy!"

"Okay, you've said that a million times! But I don't believe you. You are NOT a good boy, Tobi. You never will be, either."

Tobi turned around with a pan of freshly made brownies in his oven-mitted hands. He obviously hadn't listnened to what Sasuke had said because he said again, for the millionth time…

Must I say it?

"Tobi is a good boy! He made brownies for EVERYONE in the Akatsuki!"

Sasuke had had enough.

He flashed hand signs before angrily saying, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

And he aimed his jutsu right at the brownies. Which had taken Tobi hours to make, since he was just an idiot. Tobi looked down at his brownies (which was now just a pile of ashes sitting in a blackened pan), but Sasuke had no idea what he was thinking, considering he had a mask covering his whole face.

"Oh, oops," Sasuke said in a fake, robotic voice. "I meant to aim that somewhere else. Well, I guess I have to go… now."

Sasuke turned his back on Tobi, smirk on his face as he walked towards the door. Now Tobi would never want to "play with him" again.

But, oh was he wrong.

For Tobi jumped on his back, hitting him unexpectedly on the tile floor, face first.

"Oww…" Sasuke groaned.

"That was fun! Let's make more! Tobi is a—"

"Stupid, idiotic, clueless, creepy, whorish, psycho—"

Sasuke could go on all day with the insults, but then the door to the kitchen opened, and Konan stood there, looking down at the two men sprawled on the floor (yeah, that sounds wrong…). Itachi's nose was bleeding like crazy. She _had_ to do something, and fast.

Konan cleared her throat. "Um, Itachi. Pein would uh…like to see you in his office. As soon as possible."

Tobi leapt off of Sasuke, who got up slowly, huffing and puffing angrily. He turned to look at a happy Tobi, waving at him as Konan hurriedly pulled him out the door. "Bye, Itachi! Tobi hopes he can play with Itachi again! Itachi is fun!"

As soon as the kitchen door shut, the two broke into an unbelievably fast run until they got to the hall with Itachi's Konan abruptly stopped and turned to face Sasuke.

"Are you alright? You were there for EVER. I felt so bad!"

"Um, yeah. As you can see by my bleeding nose, I am just DANDY!" He said, his right eye twitching like crazy.

"I won't leave you alone with him again, I swear. But you can't blame Deidara for leaving like that. I mean, he ALWAYS has to deal with Tobi, since they're partners, and all."

"Oh, gosh. Well, thanks to EVERYONE, who just LEFT me in there for like, what… five hours? Thanks for leaving me in there forever, Konan. Even though you could have come sooner, and all. But whatever, right?"

And then he stormed into his room, slamming the door in the young woman's face. She sighed. Itachi was just so… different.

He must've just had brain damage, or something.

Sasuke angrily shook his head.

"Anyways," continued Madara, "I have received word on Sasuke."

Sasuke's interest was immediately caught. "Okay," he said eagerly.

The older Uchiha cleared his throat. "I had sent Sasori on a mission to find where Sasuke was. Turns out he saw him running as fast as he could in the south direction. Meaning that he's coming for you. So I want you to be on your guard. He could jump up at any second, now."

Sasuke nodded, wondering what the hell Itachi was up to. Well, he was probably just running away from Orochimaru the creep. Although he wouldn't blame anyone for hating Orochimaru, he smirked, knowing exactly what his brother was going through.

Hell.

And yes, Itachi WAS going through hell.

Yes, he had the majority of his life gone through hell, but it was just starting all over again.

As he flopped over onto his brother's bed, he wondered why the hell he had listened to f*ckin' Aname and gone back.

But he couldn't walk for weeks, according to Kabuto, who had healed him… *awkward*

Although Itachi had no doubts that Kabuto had enjoyed healing this particular… um, thing.

Itachi was silently walking back to Orochimaru's hideout. He had run much farther than he thought, and it was starting to get dark.

"So Aname," Itachi looked up at the girl perched on his shoulder, breaking the silence between them. "Is Orochimaru okay…?"

Aname looked down at the pitiful Uchiha, who obviously hoped that he had killed Orochimaru. "He will be eventually. Right now it just looks like he was on a heavy-duty period.

"AUGH!" Itachi yelped, thinking both "how painful!" and "don't talk to me about that feminine crap!"

"I'm sorry, there's just no other way to explain it!" Aname said, looking straight ahead.

Itachi was, once again, scarred for life.

_What a drag_, Itachi thought. He just stared up at the ceiling, waiting to disappear off the face of the earth (he had very high hopes that it really WOULD happen, though it wasn't at all practical). He felt like hitting his head against the doorframe, but he just calmly laid down on the bed, feeling oh so sorry for himself. He wondered what Sasuke was doing at the moment, and hoped with all his heart that he wouldn't figure out the entire truth about the clan.

_F*ck my life_.

That was the only thing running through Itachi's head as he mentally stabbed a kunai through his head.

If only, if only.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Yes?" Itachi propped himself up on his elbows.

The door opened, and there stood Kabuto.

_Oh, shit. Please don't tell me what I don't want to hear…_

"Orochimaru wishes to see you," Kabuto said.

And that was the news Itachi didn't want to hear.

"Tell him I'm dead," Itachi said, lying back down on his bed. _Dammit_, Itachi thought as Kabuto's footsteps grew closer.

The Uchiha grabbed the pillow from underneath him and covered his face with it. "Leave me f*ckin' alone," he said in a voice that can make you feel more pity for someone than you've ever felt before. It was pathetic.

"Sasuke, if you hate Orochimaru so much, then why did you seek his help?" Kabuto asked from the bedside.

Itachi's muffled voice answered: "So I can kill my brother. Duh." Which was very odd to say for him.

Suddenly the pillow was yanked off of his face and thrown across the room by a furious Kabuto. "Get your ass over to Orochimaru!"

The Uchiha's face was pricelessly pitiful as he stared up at Kabuto, who was trying to resist letting him stay behind. He just looked so… adorable!

Kabuto closed his eyes and backed away a bit. "Just… go…" he forced the words out of his mouth.

There was a pause. Kabuto opened his left eye to cautiously peek at Sasuke, who was sitting on his bed, pouting like a six-year-old.

"Fine!" The Uchiha hopped up from his bed and ran out the door. Kabuto sighed.

"Well, I've never seen him pull THAT face before," he thought aloud. "I better watch out, and not give in."

As Itachi headed down the confusing halls, he didn't take the correct turn to Orochimaru's room (he didn't dare). Instead, he walked outside and by the pond that he had fallen by when him and Sasuke were so cruelly switched into each others' bodies. He sat beside the pond and looked down into the water, only to see Sasuke staring straight back at him, looking just as sorrowful as he felt. He let a sigh escape his lips.

"Sasuke…" he said quietly, missing his brother more than ever.

If his stupid clan wouldn't have tried to take over Konoha, this would have never happened.

But of course, Itachi had never thought about it that way.

It had been about two weeks since he was transferred into Sasuke's body. Honestly, he couldn't understand why Sasuke stayed with Orochimaru. He guessed that he had been powerful enough before the pedophile started attempting to rape him, and all. So he could've left tons sooner, right?

But, maybe he was wrong.

Itachi spent the rest of the day there, doing nothing but thinking. He lay down on the grass, looking up at the freely flowing clouds, then, before long, the sunset. It was so lovely, one of the few beautiful things left in this hideous world.

This had to be the most depressing, exhausting, unproductive day in the history of Itachi Uchiha.

* * *

**Itachi: Gosh, can't this story just end already?**

**Me: Don't worry, Itachi! Things will look up next time.**

**Itachi: Yeah, right. F*ck my life.**

**Me: Don't say that :( Just take my word for it.**

**Itachi: Psh, not in the next chapter. Things will just get worse. Seriously, you might as well just kill me, already.**

**Me: NO I REFUSE! So, everyone, thank you for reading, and yes, I mean things will get better for poor Itachi, but I guess he's right, I can't promise it'll get better in the next chapter... since I just write everything on the spot. But let's all hope so! So, just keep on reading :)**

**Itachi: F*ck my life.**

**Me: Oh, don't be such a downer. We all love you, Itachi! So you and everyone else might as well kick back and enjoy the rest ^-^**

**Itachi: If that's even possible.**

**Me: Oh, it is. Bye, everyone! See ya next time! ^_^**


	9. Itachi's Birthday

**Hey, everyone! I just wanted to say I'm soo sorry... I mean, it's been THREE WHOLE DAYS since I've uploaded! Well, technically two days, but still!**

**Let me tell you what has been going on. So first I had a fight with my sister (which was odd, because we NEVER fight). And I'm not talking about a sissy argument, I'm talking full on punching, hitting screaming, etc. 0_0 Yeah, crazy, right? Then I went shopping... Then yesterday I had all this church stuff to worry about -.- *sigh* I apologize, but I'm not the most religious soul in the world, ya know ^_^**

**But anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! And I'm soo sorry about it's shortness! ^_^U  
**

* * *

The next morning, Itachi woke up by the millpond he had spent the previous day at. As he sat up, he stretched his aching joints.

Sleeping on an itchy, grassy ground that was covered in sharp poky sticks that stabbed into your back wasn't the most comfortable of all locations.

So he went back inside and down to Sasuke's room (which he now considered his own room) before closing the door and LOCKING it.

As far as he was concerned, he wouldn't be coming out for a long time.

Itachi walked over to the calendar that hung next to his bed and looked at it for a while. He had lost track of the days since he and Sasuke were switched, for they had all seemed to last forever…

Which really sucked.

When he saw the calendar, he instantly caught track of the days, since he had drawn a large frowny-face in the box on June 5th.

So that only meant today was June 9th.

Itachi's birthday.

The first thing that Sasuke heard that morning was not the number one thing that everyone wishes to hear first thing in the morning to start the day off perfectly.

In fact, it was probably last on the list.

_HHHHOOOOONNNNNKKK!_

Would YOU want that to wake you up?

The sleeping Uchiha popped one eye opened and groaned before sitting up. It was one of those mornings where everything you see is all blurry and just having eyes gives you a massive headache. Ever since Aname had fixed his vision the first day, he was so not used to seeing this blurry.

He blinked a few times, then looked over to glare at every member of the Akatsuki that was standing at the entrance of his room (and he hated to admit it, but now he ALSO considered his brothers' room his own).

The happiest ones in the room were Kisame, Deidara, Hidan, Sasori. The rest just looked tired and grumpy. Sasori was holding one of those things that curls up and then unfurls with a loud HONK whenever you blow into it (sorry, I know they have a name, but I really don't know what they're called… ^_^). No wonder Sasuke had awakened to such a horrible noise. Deidara and Hidan were holding either side of a banner that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ITAchi!" written across it. It was obvious that they hadn't put much time into making it, since it was written in very clumsy scrawl and black permanent marker. The last half of Itachi's name was written very small underneath the first half, as they had run out of room for the rest of it (so that's why the last three letters are lower-case, in case any of y'all were confused, or anything ^_^) Sasuke blamed Kakuzu for this cheap-looking banner. Then there was Kisame, standing front and center next to Sasori holding a cake, while the rest of the Akatsuki glumly stared at the drowsy Uchiha, sitting up in bed, looking a bit cross.

In the split second that Sasuke took this all in, the four happiest members yelled at the top of their lungs (literally) in a very ear-splitting manner…

"_**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ITACHI!**_"

Sasuke cringed before rubbing his eyes and standing up, not exactly thrilled to be celebrating his hated brothers' birthday.

"I think I'm bleeding from the ears," Sasuke said grouchily.

The four giddy members cheered and jumped up when he said this.

Was that they're GOAL, or something? To make him bleed from the ears?

Sasuke walked towards them, and Kisame suddenly looked very defensive of the cake he was holding.

"You are NOT going to destroy THIS cake. It took us all last night to make!"

The Uchiha took a better look at the cake, which was chocolate with white frosting. In red icing, it said in very clumsy, shaky scrawl (which looked similar to the banner) "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ITACCHI!" (And yes, I meant to put the two "C's" in "ITACCHI"). Then there was a picture below, which was drawn with the icing, of a dead weasel with x-eyes.

How nice and appetizing.

Before Sasuke could say anything, Sasori flipped. "Okay, Itachi! Hurry and get ready so that we can party all day!"

"Yeah! Don't keep us waiting, un!" Deidara declared.

"WHOO!" Hidan yelled as they all pushed outside of his room and shut the door behind him.

Sasuke gawked, not quite believing that that had just happened.

And also thinking about his LAST disastrous surprise birthday party…

Let's not even talk about it.

Soon, Sasuke was out of his room and into his Akatsuki cape-thingy. Everyone had gathered downstairs and was partying like crazy. Drunk Deidara, high Hidan, sleeping Sasori, and so much more.

"Itachi-san! Happy birthday!" Tobi had showered Sasuke with hugs and what probably would have been kisses if it weren't for his mask. It ruined it all, knowing who was really hiding behind the lollipop-like mask.

"You are so OLD!" Tobi declared.

Sasuke laughed, knowing that he was talking about Itachi, and not himself.

Deidara limped over to Sasuke holding a bottle of beer. "Great party. I am just having SO much fun right now! I mean, wow. Just wow." He took a drink of beer and swayed on his feet. Then he put his hand on the Uchiha's shoulder. "Congrats, man… congrats. You are just wonderful. Just amazing. I love you, man…" Then he let out a loopy giggle and tried to pull his hand away from Sasuke's clothes, but it was biting onto his sleeve, refusing to let go.

"Hehe, look!"

"Uh, yeah…" Sasuke looked down at the hand clinging onto his sleeve, a sickened expression pasted on his face. "Hey, let's get you back up to your room."

Deidara snatched a piece of cake out of Konan's hands and shoved it into his face. "Okay," he said. Then he looked at a cross Konan and said: "Hey, babe. Hit me up."

Konan, needless to say, slapped him across the face. Deidara just laughed about it.

"That hurt," he slurred.

Sasuke slung Deidara's arm over his shoulder and proceeded to walk upstairs. Deidara just let Sasuke do all the work.

Once Sasuke had gotten to Deidara's room, he realized that Deidara had fallen sound asleep on their walk upstairs. So he awkwardly tucked him in his bed and was about to leave until…

"Kiss me."

Sasuke turned around. "Wait… what?"

Deidara sat up, looking a bit cross. "You're SUPPOSED to give me a goodnight kiss!"

There was a pause. A very awkward gay baby pause.

"Deidara," Sasuke finally said. "You're drunk."

Then Deidara started screaming like a girl. In a very high-pitched ear splitting manner.

"Okay! OKAY!" Sasuke ran over to Deidara's bedside, who instantly stopped screaming and laid back down, looking very giddy.

Sasuke awkwardly leaned down and kissed the drunken man on the forehead. "Goodnight," he said, making a mental note to wash his lips off…

But wait. They were Itachi's lips. Hehe, serves him right.

"Goodnight! Sleep tight! Do NOT let the bed bugs bite!" Deidara closed his eyes, then mumbled, "Happy birthday, Uchiha-san…"

Then he had fallen asleep. Again.

Sasuke turned off the lights and closed the door before starting to his own room. He couldn't help but wonder what Itachi was up to. What was he doing? I mean, it was his birthday, after all, and Sasuke had gotten all the glory because of it.

It took him back to the old days… but of course no one got drunk or high.

But still…

Sasuke went to bed that night, thoughts clouding his mind. His emotions felt bittersweet and homesick, but what made it worse was that this whole time he knew. Deep down he knew.

He knew that he missed his kind, loving big brother more that anything.


	10. Itachi's FINAL Desicion

**Hey, I'm sorry for the total shortness of this chapter, but I am SOO busy lately, that I haven't the time to write too much. But I'll hopefully do more tomorrow. And it doesn't help the fact that I'm uhh... being stalked... yeah...**

**Well, enjoy this chapter, even though it's hardly a chapter.**

**P.S., It really makes my day when I find I have a new review *hint hint* ^-^**

* * *

Orochimaru glared at the incognito Itachi, who glared back.  
This time, training was going to be SERIOUS.

"Now, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said, narrowing his snake-like eyes. "Show me what you've—"

But he wasn't able to finish the sentence, since Itachi quickly flung a kunai directly in the middle of his forehead. As it jabbed into his head, Orochimaru's eyes widened with shock. Itachi turned his back on the creep with a smirk as he walked back to the lair. "My work here is done," he said.

Unfortunately for him, he heard exactly what he did NOT want to hear.

_Poof_!

That meant only one thing…

Itachi turned around to see a log, right where Orochimaru was standing, with a kunai sticking out. He slapped his forhead with his hand. He didn't see Orochimaru anywhere in the trees, so he shrugged and started again for the lair…

But when he started walking again, he bumped right into Orochimaru. He quickly staggered backwards.

"Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kunnn!" Orochimaru excitedly jumped over to the Uchiha and took his hands in his own. "You are so fast!"

Itachi harshly tugged his hands away from Orochimaru's and glared up at him. Dang it.

"I feel that I have taught you rather well," Orochimaru continued. "But I have some news for you. And it's not very good news, either."

Itachi perked up a little. "What is it?"

"The fox boy knows where our lair is," Orochimaru said, rather seriously. "So Kabuto and I are off to defend you. I promise they will NOT get to you."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Okay," he said, not quite sure of what else there was to say to that. Besides, it was Sasuke they wanted, not him.

Orochimaru gazed down at his beloved (ew, I can't believe I just wrote that and am keeping it…). "Stay. Put." Those were the only two words he uttered.

"Wait, excuse me?" Itachi asked.

"Stay put. Don't leave the lair while we're gone." Orochimaru said this as if it were normal every-day thing.

Before Itachi could say anything else, Kabuto had appeared at Orochimaru's side.

"Orochimaru-san," he said breathlessly, as if he were hurrying to get there. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes, Kabuto."

Itachi just stared at the scene, not believing his eyes. Was this SERIOUSLY happening!

The pedophile turned to look back at Itachi. "Don't you DARE do anything reckless," he said.

Then, the two shinobi were gone in a puff of smoke.

Itachi's jaw dropped to the ground

It was bad enough that he didn't get to celebrate his birthday.

Now he might get to go back to Konoha.

Although he thought about his beloved hometown every single day, Itachi didn't want to go back to LIVE there for a while. It was difficult enough just to be sent there on a mission.

Looking on the bright side, he had a while to be away from stupid frickin' Orochimaru and his biggest fan, Kabuto. Both were nothing but an annoyance to Itachi, and probably Sasuke, too…

Unless he was just like them.

Itachi sat up from his bed as this thought ran through his head. "No, that's… that's impossible! Sasuke can NOT be that idiotic!" As far as he knew, Sasuke was far from an idiot.

Now Itachi wanted nothing more but to go on a search for Sasuke.

So that's EXACTLY what he did.

As he got ready to go, he felt the usual presence on his shoulder.

"Aname, don't even try to stop me," Itachi said crossly.

The girl shook her head. "I'm not," she said.

Itachi looked up at her, shocked. "You're not? Is this a joke?"

Aname shook her head again, very seriously. "No. In fact, this is the proper time. I wanted you to wait until right now."

"Then why are you here?" Itachi asked curiously.

"I'm just making sure," said Aname, eyeing beneath Sasuke's bed, "that you don't forget anything."

Itachi didn't seem to notice her intently staring under his bed. And he didn't notice as he packed his suitcase what she had made hover underneath everything else he had packed.


	11. Run, Sasuke! RUN!

**Sorry it took a while! Like I said, life has been busy... Hehe, sorry guys, but it'll be a while until you find out what the "mystery item" Aname gave Itachi is. So yeah. I'll try to upload as quickly as I can, I promise! And I'm sorry this chapter kinda sucks. But it's better than the last one, right...?**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

You know what Itachi really hated? His life.

Guess what famous S-Ranked criminal was dragged back to Konoha with a certain cotton-candy head and fox-kid?

Must I say it?

It had been roughly a month since Itachi's great escape. But what happened the fifth day of his runaway (ooh, a rhyme!)?

Itachi had left his inn from the small town he stayed in and started into the forest to continue his quest for Sasuke. He HAD to find him. And of course, it wouldn't be too hard, as he knew exactly where the Akatsuki hideout was. But he had a map so that he could get back on the usual path back there.

_Let's see…_ he thought as he stared down at the map, careful not to crash into any trees.

What shocked him TONS, though, is when he stepped out into the forest and into the sunlight. He looked up from his map to see that he was at his destination. The Heaven Bridge.

He would have been happier to see it, if he hadn't seen Orochimaru, Kabuto, a pink-haired chick, some kid that was really pasty white and looked a bit like his little brother, some guy with eye wrinkles that looked strangely familiar, and last, but NOT least…

Was Naruto.

It was as if Itachi had made a big appearance, because the second he looked up from his map, all six shinobi were staring intently at him.

"SASUKE!" They all yelled (except for the pasty white boy and the guy with eye wrinkles).

All of them began yelling different things at the exact same time, nearly driving the poor Uchiha insane.

"Sasuke! You were SUPPOSED to stay in the lair! Go back, Sasuke, it's not too late!" Orochimaru was yelling desparately.

"What the hell are you DOING! Leave! Get out of here RIGHT NOW! You have to get far away from here!" Kabuto was yelling.

"SASUKE! WHY THE HELL DID YOU LEAVE! OROCHIMARU IS JUST USING YOU!" Naruto was practically screaming his head off.

"Run, Sasuke! RUN!" The pink-haired chick was close to tears as she screeched this sentence over and over again.

The Uchiha, the pasty white boy, and the wrinkle-eyed man all just stared in shock as all this was going on.

"I REFUSE to let you cross this bridge!" Orochimaru yelled, guarding the entrance in a very protective manner, Kabuto copying him.

The Uchiha looked down into the trench the bridge was placed over. It looked pretty deep and dangerous. But he must have been possessed, because before he had a clue what he was doing, Itachi was backing up toward the trees. The four shinobi were still screeching like mad, but only one voice stood out in his mind.

"Run, Sasuke! RUN!"

Then, Itachi was running straight for the trench. He felt panicked, but his feet wouldn't stop moving. Everything was going in slow motion as he leapt over the wide trench. Like a ballerina.

The other six stared from the bridge up at him in awe, seeing how graceful he was, and studying the fearless expression on his face.

Even though Itachi felt like freaking out, he just couldn't. Would he make it to the other side?

The answer was a big fat…

YES!

His right foot landed on the other side, then he was running through the other side of the forest and disappeared through the trees.

"RUN!" Naruto now yelled while he heard the high-pitched and very excited squeal, obviously the pink chick.

Ew, she must be a Sasuke fangirl.

"Sasuke-kun!" Orochimaru was sobbing. "SASUKE-KUN! WHY!"

Itachi heard the battle proceed as he, once again, ran like FOREST GUMP. THIS time, he would never stop.

And he SERIOUSLY didn't stop for DAYS. Not even to spend the nights in inns. Nope, he just ran day and night for frickin' EVER. Don't even ask how this is possible, but he must have been pretty desperate to get away from there.

Itachi abruptly stopped when he nearly ran into a familiar gate. What did it say over it?

Konoha.

Itachi face-palmed.

"Sasuke?" Thank Jashin it wasn't Orochimaru or Kabuto's voice.

But it WAS from Naruto.

The Uchiha turned around to see everyone that was at the bridge, with the exception of Orochimaru and Kabuto, thank Jashin.

They all looked… so happy. The pink chick had tears in her eyes.

Naruto spoke up again. "So, you took the month-long way back to Konoha? You know there's a shorter path, right?"

"What are you talking about 'the long way'?" Itachi curiously, slightly crossly asked.

"Um, how should I put this?" Naruto said thoughtfully, dramatically stroking his chin. He was obviously being sarcastic. "So you are NOT aware that you just ran around the entire perimeter of the Fire Country?

Itachi's jaw dropped.

"WHAT!" He exclaimed.

"Ah, you know," Naruto said with a shrug. "You HAD to have been running to get here by now. Or else you would only be halfway here."

There was a tense silence in the air between the shinobi.

Suddenly, the pink chick piped up. "Um, Sasuke. I don't think that you've met Yamato and Sai yet."

The two unknown shinobi waved. The familiar older man spoke up first. "It's nice to finally meet you, Sasuke. I'm Yamato."

The pasty white boy had on an awkward smile. "And… I'm Sai."

Itachi just bowed his head towards the two.

"So Sasuke," Naruto started up again. "The real question is this: Would you rather stay with a pedophile, or with your friends?"

Itachi was in a very sticky situation. He found himself with no choice; for he was right outside the main entrance to Konoha, with Sasuke's friends who had been tracking him down all this time. And then there was Yamato, whose real name was Tenzou… from the Anbu. Itachi narrowed his eyes at him. But he didn't have much of a reason to be angry at him, so he quickly looked away.

Naruto stared at him, his gaze penetrating. The pink chick looked hopeful. Sai looked empty, and "Yamato" was smiling kindly at him. They all seemed nice enough. Sasuke was SOOO much better off with them than with a pedophile and his partner-in-crime.

Itachi winced as he closed his eyes. Turning his head away, he lifted a shaky finger to point at Naruto and the others. His decision was made, and he couldn't go back.

He popped open his left eye. Naruto was now beaming.

"He's staying! He's staying!" Naruto giddily stated while jumping up and down with the squealing pink chick next to him. "Sakura, he's staying here in Konoha!"

_So THAT'S the pink chick's name. Remember that, Itachi_, the former Akatsuki member thought to himself.

Tenzou looked pleased while Sai looked awkward and happy. He whipped out a book and began frantically reading, but Itachi couldn't quite see the title.

"It's great you're staying, Sasuke," Naruto said, "because we have a surprise for you!"

Sakura nodded her head. "Just wait and see!"

Then, as if on cue, the main gate began to open before them, and revealed Sasuke's surprise…

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**It'd really make my day... if I got reviews *hint hint* ^_^**


	12. Sasuke's Birthday Goes Awry

**Holy COW my life is a MESS! I am sooo sorry! This will now be one of my first priorities. Also, I apologize, since this chapter is soo nothing to look forward to for all this time, so I am writing the next chapter RIGHT NOW. It will hopefully be better. So, please at least TRY to enjoy this chapter T-T**

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The gates of Konoha opened, revealing Sasuke's surprise (which was a shame that he wasn't actually there to receive it).

Holy cow, everyone. And I mean EVERYONE. Was there. And you know what the first thing they all said in unison was?

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY SASUKE!"

Itachi's jaw dropped. It was already July 23rd? It had totally blown his mind?

Also, how were they even able to set all this up? How did they know he'd even be back by then? Itachi had to hand it to them— they were smarter than they all looked.

Suddenly, confetti flew into the air in all directions, while balloons of every color seemed to fall out of nowhere. Itachi stared wide-eyed into the now-colorful sky, gaping like a suffocating fish.

He immediately stopped when he heard Naruto laughing. The Uchiha looked over at the happy blonde. "So, what do you think?" Naruto asked.

"How… how did you KNOW!" Itachi asked incredulously.

"I know more than you think, Sasuke!" Naruto said. And with that, he ran into the crowd to join the party.

Suddenly, Itachi felt a tug at his sleeve. He looked over to see Sakura, standing there. She looked upset. Like a sad puppy.

"Sasuke, can I talk to you?" She looked so adorable! Her eyes were so big and green and hopeful. Itachi HAD to say yes.

"Sure…" He said carefully.

Sakura began walking and Itachi followed, until they were in some type of storage closet.

Itachi looked around at all the ninja equipment lying everywhere. "Um," he started. "What's up?"

Sakura turned around. In a split second, he saw tears running down her pale cheeks. She made a weird noise that sounded like a banshee… a very upset banshee. Suddenly, she was clinging onto him, exceedingly so that he could scarcely breathe. Itachi raised one eyebrow as the kunoichi hugged onto him, sobbing.

What. The. Hell.

Itachi stopped before these words slipped out of his mouth. "I, uh… thought you wanted to talk to me," he said instead.

Sakura just hugged him tighter, almost completely cutting off his oxygen. She looked up at him, waterfalls pouring from her eyes. "I can't believe you're back," she said shakily before burying her face in his chest. Then she looked back up at him and said: "Will you promise that you won't ever leave again? Will you please stay here in Konoha? I'm begging you!"

Itachi could barely understand her. It was like she was speaking gibberish. But he answered with a simple "Okay."

Suddenly, Sakura was leaning up, her eyes closed… and her lips puckered.

Itachi gasped. He desparately wanted to run away, but he didn't realize until then that she had him pinned against the wall of the supply closet thingy. And he couldn't attack her! That would just be cruel. He looked to his right, then to his left for something that would help him escape… in a non-violent way.

But she was now clouding his vision, and if he were to press himself against the wall anymore, then he would probably flatten himself.

Shit.

But suddenly, the door opened, and Sakura looked away in a hurry, letting go of his chest. Itachi was about to run over to the door to kneel at his savior's feet.

Until he noticed that it was a girl in purple, running excitedly over to him.

Shit, another fangirl.

"Sasuke-kun! You're back!" She jumped onto him, knocking him back against the wall. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and she was snuggling into his chest. "Ooh, I've _missed_ you!"

Okay, THIS one, Itachi could have dealed with violently, but Sakura came to the rescue instead just as he was about to slam his knee into her bust.

"INO-PIG!" Sakura yelled at the top of her lungs, a vein popping in her enormously large forehead.

Upon hearing this, the blonde girl in the purple immediately turned her head, wacking Itachi in the face with her ponytail. The Uchiha rubbed his nose, annoyed.

"What did you just call me!" Ino yelled as a vein now popped in her forehead.

That's when Itachi ran out the door, but the two girls didn't seem to notice. They continued their battle as the door slammed behind Itachi, who sighed a sigh of utter relief.

"Whoo, that sucked," he said with a smile as he turned around to walk away…

Only to walk right into someone else.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't—" he started to say, but stopped when he saw that this was yet another girl

Shit.

"Um, Sasuke-kun," she said in a high, innocent voice. "I just wanted to welcome you back to Konoha. I-it's nice to see you again."

Itachi gave her a good look. She had long violet hair, and white eyes. It was no mistake she was a Hyuuga. A certain Hyuuga that he happened to remember.

Too bad when he realized this, he also forgot that he wasn't in his own body.

Itachi pointed at the teenage girl. "I remember you!" he exclaimed.

"Y-you do?" Hinata asked, fidgeting her fingers.

"Yeah," Itachi said incredulously. "I mean, it's been a while, but yeah! Of course, you were tons younger when I left Konoha. Like, maybe five years old. But yeah! You're Hinata!"

Hinata just gazed at the Uchiha, confusion written all over her pale face. "What are you t-talking about?" she asked.

"You're Hinata!" Itachi stupidly repeated, still not realizing he was in Sasuke's place. "I mean, you were just so adorable and small the last time I saw you, but NOW you have grown into such a beautiful young woman. Wow, time sure does fly, doesn't it?"  
"Um," Hinata said, "I wasn't five years old when you first left Konoha. I'm… I'm your age, Sasuke-kun." If possible, Hinata's eyes grew bigger and more innocent. She looked a bit uneasy and anxious. "Do you mean that all this time, you thought I was five?"

That's when Itachi realized his mistake.

"Uhh," he said, quickly trying to fix what he had said. "I, um… no. I just remember that you looked unnaturally young! Uh, but that's a good thing! Because when you get old, then you'll look really young! Um, not that you're gonna be ugly when you're old, or anything. I mean, you're NOT ugly! You're actually really pretty! But it's just that you won't be as wrinkly and stuff… not that it's a BAD thing, I mean… it happens to ALL of us!" He was just making this harder on himself. Hinata looked dumbstruck before quickly stopping his babbling.

"A-anyways, it was great to see you again, Sasuke-kun."

Then she ran off at lightning speed.

Shit.

Itachi felt like stabbing a kunai through his head. Now he had gone and done it. How stupid could you get? He should have just KNOWN after all this time in his brothers' place.

_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_

As this thought was running over and over in his head, he heard a familiar voice.

"Sasuke."

Itachi turned around to see a ninja with spiky gray hair and a covered face.

"Kakashi… sensei," he said awkwardly.

"Hey," he simply said back.

"Hey," Itachi said back.

"Sasuke, I just wanted to let you know…" Kakashi trailed off and looked up into the starry sky.

"Yes?" Itachi questioned.

"It's getting late."

There was a silence between them, which was filled with everyone in Konoha, partying in the streets around balloons and confetti.

Itachi piped up. "IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO TELL ME! I'M NOT _THAT_ STUPID!"

Kakashi turned to look at his "student." "Oh, I didn't mean to offend you," he said with a smile as he scratched the back of his head.

A vein popped in the Uchiha's head.

"Would you mind if I accompanied you home?" Kakashi asked casually, as if he had not just received a large scolding.

Itachi did nothing but nod. The two shinobi began walking in unison, dodging the crowded streets of Konoha and taking a shortcut. Itachi followed closely by Kakashi, whose masked face was buried in a mint-green book which read "MAKE OUT TACTICS" on the front. The Uchiha wasn't quite sure where exactly his little brother had lived before he stupidly abandoned all his friends in Konoha.

At first, the two were engulfed in a calm silence. Itachi looked up at his brother's sensei, who was looking rather joyful as he read his book, a slight blush creeping across his cheeks. Something was bothering the younger of the two.

And Kakashi seemed to sense it. "Sasuke," he said, looking up from his precious belonging. "Is there something wrong?"

Itachi sighed and looked up at the black sky, which was dotted with glittery stars. "Um, Kakashi?" he started nervously. "Have you ever… wished that you didn't have to live with yourself?"  
Ironically, as he asked this, a shooting star flew across the night sky.

Kakashi put a hand on his student's shoulder. "Son, let me tell you something. Everyone wishes that in their lifetime. Everyone." Kakashi looked up, looking thoughtful. "But in the end, it's all worth it. Yes, Sasuke. I have wished that before. But if you think about it, nobody's life is exactly how they want it to be. You, Sasuke, have had to go through a lot in your life, and at a very young age," Kakashi stated wisely, his book now closed. "But that makes you an even stronger young man."

Itachi smiled a little. Those words of wisdom were meant for his brother, but they helped him, as he could relate.

The next thing they knew, the two ninja were approaching a small, simple, yet very nice little house. They both stopped to give the outside a good inspection.

"Well," Kakashi said, cracking open his book, "home sweet home."

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**Once again, I apologize for the crappiness. But thanks for being patient everyone. I love you all!**


	13. A Trip To The Mall

**Okay, here's the next chapter! Since "it" is about to start on Tuesday, I promise that I will do my best to keep up with this story. Even with all the work that stupid gay teachers give, I solemnly swear to make this a top priority. I apologize if it takes a while between chapters.**

**So please enjoy! ^_^**

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"ITACHI! LET ME IN!" Kisame pounded on the door, and let me just say— he did NOT sound too happy.

_Oh, shit!_ Sasuke thought. He quickly put down the book he was reading, walked over to Itachi's bookshelf in the closet, and snatched the first book cover he could get his hands on. The mistake here was that he didn't actually really LOOK at the book cover BEFORE grabbing it.

Sasuke quickly walked back over to his bed, slipped the book cover over his book, and sat down to casually continue reading.

"ITACHI!" Kisame was pounding harder and harder on the door every second. Sasuke did his best to ignore him. Until…

BANG!

Sasuke perked up and looked straight ahead to see Kisame, standing at the bottom of a broken door, which was lying on the ground. Kisame looked mildly shocked, as did Sasuke. There was a loud silence as they both stared down at the door.

"Wow," Sasuke finally spoke up. "It must be THAT TIME OF THE MONTH." He enunciated every word as Kisame had the first day.

Kisame just folded his arms crossly as Sasuke continued reading. "Leader-sama gave us both permission to go to the mall today," he said angrily.

"What? _Why_!" Sasuke questioned with great wonder, giving Kisame a very crusty look.

"Because, you have to buy me a new lamp ONCE AND FOR ALL."

The Uchiha rolled his eyes. Kisame hadn't stopped pestering him for a while about his "beautiful lamp" getting destroyed because he had smashed it over his head.

Sasuke was NOT about to give in. "No, thank you. I'm much more mesmerized with this here story." At least he was telling the truth.

Kisame stepped around the door to look at the cover. "Fuzzy Pink Sparkly Unicorn," he read aloud.

"Wh-what!" Sasuke yelped. He rapidly turned the book around to look at the pink swirly title. It did indeed say, "Fuzzy Pink Sparkly Unicorn" with a picture of a fuzzy pink sparkly unicorn.

_What the hell! Why does Itachi even HAVE this book in the first place!_

As Sasuke gawked down at the heinous cover, Kisame ripped it off the book to reveal the actual story.

"Make-Out Paradise," he read aloud. Then he looked up at his partner. "Really? You actually READ this crap?"

Sasuke flipped. "It's just that, well, I was um… bored. And I just so happened to stumble upon this here book in, uh… Deidara's room. Yeah, Deidara's room! Hehe…"

Then an awkward gay-baby silence.

"You are so full of it," said the half-shark man.

Sasuke sweatdropped.

Thanks to the previous incident, Sasuke soon found himself being dragged to a small, very shabby mall in Amegakure.

As the two criminals stepped inside the mall, they were immediately greeted by thousands of merchants, spraying perfume on them or stuffing pastries into their mouths. Sasuke tried his best to get away, but instead he got a makeover.

"AUGH!" He yelled. "Kisame!" He turned to look at his partner, who looked to be enjoying himself. "KISAME!" He yelled again.

The blue man turned to look at the Uchiha, eyeliner framing one of his eyes. "What!" Then, upon seeing his partner made-over, Kisame gasped. "Dude, LOOK at you! You… look kinda… hott."

"AUGH! DISGUSTING, MAN!" Sasuke yelled over all the happy merchant voices.

"So what do you want?" Kisame asked just before another pastry was shoved into his razor-toothed mouth.

"Remind me why we're even HERE in the first place!" A sparkly charm necklace was placed over his neck.

"Zhoo ga do ga ve a wam!" Kisame was trying to say something, but two more treats were placed into his mouth.

"What?" Sasuke asked, exasperated.

Kisame looked as if he were about to choke. He swallowed hard before coughing, sounding as if he were about to hack up a lung. But the merchants didn't seem to care, as they kept on going with the pastries.

"FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU!" Sasuke quickly said before performing the famous Uchiha jutsu.

Well, let me just say, that was the END of the merchants.

The Uchiha ran over to Heimlich Kisame, who looked as if his eyes would roll into the back of his head.

After that very… disturbing moment, the two criminals decided to act like none of that had ever happened.

So they continued to travel through the tiny mall, looking for a perfect lamp for Kisame.

They approached the lamp shops, which had shelves that were just PACKED with very nice lamps.

"Okay," said Sasuke. "Just take a look around, I guess."

But Kisame was already eagerly checking out every single lamp in the shop. This would take a while…

The Uchiha followed the tall blue man throughout the shop as he critiqued every single one he saw.

"Too small. Too tall. Too fat. Too weird." A vein popped in the Uchiha's head as he tried to keep his cool. The man at the counter read his magazine; as if he didn't care that the only two customers in his shop were from the Akatsuki.

"Dude, can you just PLEAE make up your mind already!" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"I have to find 'the one'," Kisame said with a glare in the direction of the Uchiha.

"It's a f*ckin' LAMP. What do you expect!"

"You're MOM'S a f*ckin' lamp!"

Big mistake, Kisame. Big mistake…

Sasuke snatched up the nearest lamp. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!" The lamp he held was white, and the shade was a soft blue at the top and darker blue at the bottom, which was the waves surrounding it, with the same darker blue color of fish silhouettes diving all around the waves.

"AAHH!" Kisame squealed, clasping his hands together while looking at the lamp as if it were his true love. "It's PERFECT!"

It sucked to be Kisame at the time because for one, that lamp was "the one," and two, because he got beaten up with it next.

As he was hit over the head with his beloved lamp, he backed up against another shelf, where all the lamps fell on his head.

"OUCH!" He yelped, crouching to the ground, hands over his head.

"That's what I thought!" Sasuke screeched shrilly.

The shower of lamps ended, leaving Kisame, looking rather pitiful and scraped up on the ground, giving Sasuke puppy eyes.

But that did NOT stop Sasuke.

"All I said!" Kisame desparately started as Sasuke pinned him to the ground. "All I said was 'your MOM'S a f*ckin' lamp'! Is that a crime!"

"YYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!" Sasuke screeched VERY shrilly. Now Kisame was bleeding from his ears.

"B-But you killed your mom! Itachi!"

This got him a huge hit RIGHT smack on his forehead, shattering the light bulb within the lampshade (which now looked like a crumpled mess).

Where was the shopkeeper all this time, you ask?

Well, this anime Teddy Roosevelt stood behind the counter, not quite believing his eyes. He just stared in shock, not wanting all his precious lamps to get destroyed. But if HE were to jump in, he would probably get destroyed.

Two S-Ranked criminals getting beaten up, or doing the beating up, with a lamp. WTF.

Finally, the shopkeeper closed his magazine and rushed over to where the half-shark man was getting beaten up and was bleeding a massive amount of blood from his blue forehead.

"Um, sir!" the shopkeeper frantically said to the Uchiha. "That-that is NOT aloud in my shop!"

Sasuke acted like he wasn't there, and continued stabbing, hitting, and slapping Kisame with the special lamp.

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOO! Kisame cried. "NOT MY PRECIOUS LAMP!"

"Um, hey!" The shopkeeper said. "That is NOT aloud here!" He really wasn't doing anything to help poor, distraught Kisame.

Sasuke continued to rampage like a madman, acting like the shopkeeper had no existence in this world.

"ITACHI! WHY!" Kisame wailed. "WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS DO THIS TO ME!"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE A STUPID IDIOT!" Sasuke cried with a wack to Kisame's head.

Suddenly, the broken, damaged lamp was snatched out of the Uchiha's hand. Both Akatsuki members looked up to see the shopkeeper, the lamp in one hand, and his other one outstretched toward Itachi, whom he looked at very bitterly. "That would be $105.99, please."

Sasuke looked at all the broken lamps around them before picking one up, taking off the lampshade, and calmly standing up to face the shopkeeper, who had a trace of fear in his eyes. Then, Sasuke promptly shattered the light bulb over his head.

Kisame, who was now in a sitting up position, sweatdropped. Right before the whole shelf fell over on him.

The shopkeeper was apparently stunned in that very position as Sasuke walked right out of the shop.

Kisame held an ice pack over his forehead. He glared straight ahead as he walked side-by-side with the Uchiha back to the Akatsuki lair. Neither said a word, but it was silently agreed that they would NEVER go back to that mall again.

And Kisame didn't really want a lamp, anymore.

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**Reviews, anyone...?**


	14. Reminiscing

**Gosh, SORRY for the friggin' long wait! I have been soo busy lately. 'IT' is not helping any, either. But this year is better than last, I must say.**

**Yeah, this chapter is a little more serious. But the next one will be funnier. I promise. I'm working on it RIGHT NOW.**

**Okay, PLEASE REVIEW and ENJOY! ^_^**

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Sunshine shone through the window, shining perfectly on the eyes of a sleeping Itachi.

But that gentle… ness… is not what awoke him.

BANG!

Itachi sat up in the bed he was sleeping in, his eyes flying open.

The first thing he saw was an overly-excited looking Naruto, swinging open the bedroom door just to run inside, straight to the bed to shake the dazed Uchiha's shoulders.

"Rise and shine, Sasuke!" he said happily. "It's time for a meeting with Granny Tsunade!"

"NARUTO!" Sakura tramped in behind the excited Jinchuuriki, anger written all over her face. "You didn't have to wake him up so rudely!" She promptly punched him on the head. "Besides, the meeting isn't until this evening!"

"No, Sakura." Kakashi calmly walked in, reading "Make-Out Tactics. "Sasuke has to go this morning. He's coming again with us later this evening to assign all of us a mission."

"Oh…" Sakura said, looking down at Naruto on the ground.

Sai stood slightly behind Kakashi, reading a book of his own, mumbling to himself as he read. Suddenly, he shut the book and quickly walked over to Naruto to help him up.

Then, rather unexpectedly, he came over to Itachi to help him out of bed before slinging his arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, Sasuke." He opened his book with his free hand to quickly read a segment of it before shutting it and saying: "It's uh… nice that you're back." He was saying this very awkwardly.

As Sai stood there, smiling his best smile, the other four in the room sweatdropped.

"Ugh, Sai…" Naruto murmured as he dropped his head to the floor.

"SAI!" Sakura yelled. "What do you think you're DOING!"

"Wow, you really got off on the wrong side of the bed, didn't you, hag?"

There was a very intence, anticipating pause. Sakura looked like a wax dummy, just standing there gawking at Sai.

"WWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Sakura was now exploding, right there in Sasuke's room. Her hands were pulling on her pink cotton-candy hair, and it was almost as if she was steaming from the ears.

"Sai! Look out!" Naruto yelled over Sakura's frantic screams.

Sai just stood there, staring like an idiot as Sakura speeded toward him.

Let's just say that things didn't go too well for poor, socially awkward Sai.

"Sasuke! You idiot!"

The Hokage slammed her glass of tea on the table, glaring menacingly at Itachi.

_Well, thank you, Tsunade_, he thought, mildly offended at her calling his brother an idiot.

"You know what this means?" Tsunade fumed. "We can't ever trust you the same. EVER AGAIN!"

"WHAT?" Itachi was now slamming HIS cup of tea on the table, glaring menacingly at Tsunade. A bolt of lightning appeared between the two pairs of eyes.

"Isn't this what it's all about? Forgive and forget!" Itachi raged.

"NNNNOOOOO!" Tsunade said, clearly overreacting.

Well, she did more than just yell.

The next thing Itachi knew, Tsunade was crawling across the table at the speed of light, charging at the young Uchiha. He gawked at her.

"SNAP!"

"Wh-what the…?" The Uchiha looked down at his wrist, only to see an odd band had just been attached there by the crazy Hokage.

"This bracelet tracks your every move," Tsunade explained, still sprawled on the table. "Now I'll always be watching you. I'll know every step you take, every move you make. I'll know where you are. I can always see you, no matter what!"  
Tsunade was kind of starting to sound like a rapist.

But that didn't matter, because she continued her creep speech. "I'll know every action, every word, and all the expressions on your cute little face." She pinched his cheek. Hard. His eyes began to water up as she kept talking. "I'll know if you're running away again, or if you stay. And, last but CERTAINLY not least…" She leaned into Itachi to say in his ear, "I'll know where you sleep."

At that phrase, Itachi did everything in his power to keep from having a sobbing fit. First Orochimaru, now Tsunade?

Great.

**:)**

After the freaky meeting had ended, Itachi decided to take a walk around Konoha to reminisce. Hands in his pockets and eyes keen and alert, he started at the academy.

He sat on a bench and stared as the children had their recess time. Every one was smiling brightly and having a good time. A smile crossed his lips, as he recalled. He was still in the academy when Sasuke was born.

"Itachi, your mother is here."

Itachi perked up a little when he heard this. He knew precisely what was going on.

A young Itachi jumped out of his seat and rushed into the hall, oh so thrilled at what he was about to witness.

The boy opened the door and looked to his left, not seeing anything.

"Mom?" he called.

"I'm right here, Itachi."

His mother's voice came from behind him. He eagerly whipped his head around, eyes radiant with excitement. "MOM! Can I see him, mom? Can I!" He was looking at a bundle of blankets in her arms.

Mikoto smiled at her oldest and bent down to his height. Then she uncovered the blankets to reveal a sleeping newborn.

"Sasuke," she said to the baby. "This is your brother, Itachi."

Sasuke stirred a bit before opening his large black eyes, which traveled to where his brother stood in awe.

"Would you like to hold him for a bit?" Mikoto said to Itachi.

Itachi gratefully held out his arms, and his mother placed the baby in them.

"Hey, Sasuke," Itachi said quietly, smiling kindly down at the newborn. Sasuke half-smiled back and reached up to his older brother.

Itachi was happier than ever in this peaceful moment. He was finally here. His little brother.

All these happy thoughts ran through the boy's mind as his baby brother reached up, wrapped his small hand around a strand of Itachi's bangs, and yanked down. Hard.

"OUCH!"

Happy moment: ruined.

"Okay guys, recess it over!" Iruka yelled, opening the academy door.

A chorus of "Aww, man!" was heard as the children filed inside.

_Iruka-sensei is still working at the academy, huh?_ Itachi felt happy to see his former teacher, whom he hadn't had since he was very young. Very, very young. But it still brought back many wonderful memories of his childhood before he was so cruelly forced to leave Konoha.

One by one, the children disappeared, chatting happily until they were all inside and the grounds of the academy seemed almost dead. All Itachi could think was how sad it was that all these wonderful kids would someday live in the ninja world, being forced to do terrible things for the right reasons, and being emotionally scarred for life.

Okay, it wouldn't happen to ALL of them, but STILL! The ninja world is a cruel, nasty place to be.

And you never know when some innocent teenager will have no choice but to kill their clan in order to stop a war from happening, and not being able to kill their baby brother, let alone give them the real reason WHY they killed everyone and left their baby brother to fend for themselves, hungry for revenge.

Itachi stood up from the bench and walked through the streets of Konoha. There weren't many people out today, just a few shoppers. He took his time, letting his feet walk by themselves. Itachi wasn't sure where he was going…

… until he stopped right in front of the gate to the old Uchiha property.

It looked like it had been closed off with that wimpy "caution" tape a long time ago. Although Itachi didn't really want to relive the terrible memory, he found himself tearing down the tape and stepping inside the gray, gloomy property.

As he walked through the familiar, homey streets, he realized that it looked like a ghost town, haunted by all the Uchiha's he had slaughtered. It was… bittersweet. Bitter, because you could still see where everyone had fallen to their bloody death, and sweet, because this was where he had lived comfortably with his family for the rest of his short childhood.

The Uchiha closely observed the streets, his feet still aimlessly walking about. He felt a feeling of emptiness, lonliness, despair, and the same depression he had felt that night before he just became… nothing. He had never had any thought in his head besides Sasuke and Konoha all these years. What he had been forced to do, no one could imagine the difficulties and emotional sufferings of it.

But Itachi became more open once he was transferred into Sasuke's body. Why is that?

Sorry, I really don't know ^_^U

But ANYWAYS…

Oh, snap.

Guess where Itachi ended up?

At first, he just stopped right in front of his house, as if he were closely inspecting the outside of it. Some of the windows were shattered, the door was hanging open a crack. There was a layer of dirt on the porch, and a light breeze whistled through the town, sending shivers down the young man's back.

How eerie…

Itachi couldn't stop himself; he began his walk up the porch steps until…

CRASH!

The second stair broke beneath his weight.

The Uchiha fell to the ground, hitting his head rather hard.

"Ah, shit! SHIT!" Yes, you could tell he was a bit pissed off.

"STUPID F*CKIN' STAIRS!"

After a session of cursing, yelling, and throwing a general fit, Itachi carefully walked up to the porch, each step causing a wooden board to creak. He finally approached the door and slid it all the way open.

_Creeeeeeaaakkk!_

Yikes…

Everything in his house was gray. From the windows to the walls ('till the sweat drips down my balls! ^_^U hehe… that's a song… sorry, I just couldn't resist) to all the furniture. As the shinobi took a step in, he noticed how musty the air was. He walked deeper into the house, leaving tracks wherever he walked in the thick, dust-layered floor.

He explored everything: The living and dining room, the kitchen, every hall and corridor, the offices, his parents' bedroom, Sasuke's bedroom.

He soon approached a familiar door. One he grew up behind. The one he had stayed behind, preparing for the Uchiha massacre. Sliding open the familiar door, he took a cautious step inside.

It brought back so many childhood memories. He almost felt like he had traveled back in time, before he had joined Akatsuki. Even before he had joined Anbu. It was, as this whole afternoon had been, bittersweet.

Itachi took a seat on his old, small bed. And he stayed there for the rest of the afternoon, in his house, all alone. Perhaps the spirits of his clan were with him right now. It was a peaceful moment. Very quiet, eerie, and all at the same time, beautiful.

He would never leave.

**:)**

"SASUKE! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THERE!"

Itachi jumped at the sudden voice. Where was it coming from?

His wrist.

"WHY?" he replied, clearly annoyed.

"You will NOT leave this village again! NOT without my permission! NOW GET! Remember you have a meeting, and you are already LATE!"

"Ugh, why did you install a walkie-talkie in this thing?" Itachi whined.

"Because, I can get a hold of you better! DUH!"

The Uchiha sighed and stood up from his bed before slowly, respectively walking down the hallway and out the door.

The sky was still the same brownish-red it was when he arrived at the Uchiha territory. But when he walked through the entrance gate, the sky was the color of the sunset, as all the happy merchants and shoppers scurried through the streets. Itachi took one last glance back before starting towards Tsunade's office.

**:)**

Team 7 were all forced to wear wristbands.

"Why, Granny? WHY?" Naruto whined.

"SHUT UP, NARUTO!" Sakura screeched.

"Because," Tsunade said, "I must know if Sasuke is with you guys or not. I don't want him running away again on this mission." She swerved her head to Itachi and narrowed her eyes. "I still don't know WHY I'm letting you go in the first place. You better not go anywhere. Remember what I said to you this morning."

Itachi sweatdropped.

"Now!" Tsunade looked at Kakashi. "You all have one hour before departure. So go and get ready."

"Hai!" they all said in unison before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

* * *

**Remember what I said? I want reviews, please! They all make my day. Thank you ALL for being soo patient! I love ya!**


	15. New Missions

**Omg, SORRY FOR THE LONG TIME IT TOOK! I'm in a hurry though right now, so I'm sorry, I can't really explain right now. Review, PLEASE and ENJOY!**

* * *

"Guess what starts tomorrow, un!" Deidara said excitedly.

"BATTLE OF THE SEXES!" Most of the Akatsuki members cheered from the couches, chairs, or even the ground.

Konan grimaced. "We need more female members. It's so hard being the only girl! And Battle of the Sexes lasts a whole week!"

"Konan, you're just jealous because you've never won," Sasori pointed out.

"Yeah, and we only get another f*ckin' bitch here if you would f*ckin' win for once," Hidan stated.

"That's still not fair!" Konan whined. "Just one female member wouldn't hurt! Maybe girls would win for once…"

"No, guys rule the Akatsuki," Kisame said with a "WHOO!"

"Um, Kisame, what's Battle of the Sexes?" Sasuke asked curiously.

Kisame looked dumbstruck at the Uchiha. "You don't remember!"

Sasuke shamefully shook his head.

"It's where the boys and girls, aka Konan, compete against each other in a series of games for 7 WHOLE DAYS! Guys always win, but it's still fun."

Suddenly, Pein walked into the room. "Yes, Battle of the Sexes starts tomorrow," he said solemnly. "But there are TWO young men that will not get to participate."

Konan wore a nasty smile as all the guys (except Kakuzu) nervously sweatdropped. Pein's eyes scanned each one, sending shivers up their spines.

His Rinnegan eyes flashed onto Itachi and Kisame, and he jabbed his purple-painted index and birdie fingers at the two. "You! Itachi and Kisame. I would like to speak to you for a moment."

Sasuke and Kisame exchanged nervous glances before following their leader out of the living room, down the corridor, and up the spiral staircase to his office.

The second the office door shut behind the three, Kisame piped up, "What—"

Pein held up a hand to silence him. Kisame instantly shut it. The three were engulfed in a complete dead silence, just standing like idiots in front of the door.

_This is awkward…_ Sasuke thought, staring at Pein.

Unexpectedly, Pein started toward his desk on the other side of the room and sat down in the office chair. He folded his hands in front of himself on the desk and stared at Kisame and Sasuke.

"What were you going to say, Kisame?" he said sullenly.

Kisame gaped at him. "Wait, did you really have to sit down to hear what I was about to say?"

"What were you going to say, Kisame?" Pein repeated, a slight edginess to his voice.

Kisame shook his head, dumbstruck. "What is this all about, leader-sama? Why do you want to talk to us?"

Pein sighed. "Take a seat, boys."

The two criminals took a seat across from their leader. Pein's eyes shifted back and forth between the two, who just stared back. What was up with him today?

"I am," he started, freakishly silent, "VERY disappointed in both of you."

"WHAT!" Kisame and Sasuke screeched at the same time.

"What! What did we DO!" Sasuke roared.

"You've failed ONE mission over and over again," Pein said. His eyes seemed to be glowing, almost. "Can anyone guess what that one mission is?"

Silence.

When no one responded, Pein slammed his fist down. "You idiots! Itachi, what village are you from?"

"Uh…" Sasuke said, giving Pein a crusty look, "Konoha?"

"Yes. And what do you and Kisame always go to search for in Konoha!"  
At the same time, Kisame and Sasuke both drew in a sharp breath and said in surprise, "The Jinchuuriki!"

"YES!" Pein shrieked, causing the other two members to wince

_He never has _this_ much personality… I just hope it doesn't get like that ONE time Orochimaru left…_ Kisame thought with a shudder.

Pein stood up and began to pace in front of Kisame and Sasuke. "Now, I'm going to send you back to Konoha. But THIS time…" he looked at Sasuke, giving him the death glare, "I want you to return… with Naruto Uzumaki. However, if you return empty-handed…" he clasped his hands on the Uchiha's shoulder, his eyes blazing. Sasuke gulped as Kisame sweatdropped.

"You will no longer be members of this organization!" Pein finished.

Kisame instantly panicked. "No, leader-sama, NO! Where will we go? What will we DO!" Kisame fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around Pein's ankles. "Oh, leader-sama! Please don't do this to us! We'll do anything! _I'll_ do anything! For YOU!" Kisame appeared to be sobbing into Pein's feet. Pein's eye began to twitch as Kisame continued weeping and begging.

"Um," Sasuke started. Ignoring Kisame, Pein turned his attention toward the calmer one. "Kisame has a point. Where _will_ we go? And what _will_ we do?"

Pein shrugged. "I dunno. You'll just have to fend for yourself."

"Oh, leader-sama! I love this place and everyone here! This is my HOME!" Kisame continued rattling on in between sobs.

Sasuke was feeling a bit uneasy. "But… where else will we be accepted? What if I run into Ita— er… Sasuke?"

"Maybe you won't get the fight you expected, but at least he'll avenge the clan."

"Wait… what?"  
Pein cocked his head to the side. "Itachi, isn't that what you wanted?"

Sasuke furrowed his brow. "What did I want?"

Pein shook his head. "Ugh, Itachi, Itachi, Itachi… Still a little forgetful there, hmm? I guess you DID have a very big… fall out the window…"

"Pein-sama," Sasuke said, a trace of frustration in his voice. "What did I want!"

"Oh, LEADER-SAMA!"  
"SHUT UP, KISAME!" Pein kicked Kisame in the face.

"OUCH!"

Now, the room was silenced. Kisame held his position, hugging Pein's feet.

"Now then, Itachi. What were you saying?"

Sasuke sighed. "This is the THIRD TIME I've had to say this. What did you say about Sasuke avenging the clan?"

"Well," Pein began, "that's what you wanted for Sasuke. Vengeance. I mean, it wasn't YOUR choice to kill the clan. So you kept the actual secret from him so that he would someday become one of the strongest ninja, find you when he was ready, and kill you. But right before you die, you said something about planting your own power into him. The truth will NEVER be revealed to him. EVER!"

Sasuke felt like he had just been struck with a lightning bolt. The truth? There WAS no truth. Itachi was just a mindless jerk. Besides, what real, logical reason would there be to massacre an entire clan?

None.

"Haha, very funny," Sasuke mused. "Remind me to laugh later."

Pein shrugged. "Suit yourself. But you know it's true." Kisame was down on the ground, nodding in agreement (he was the only other member who knew).

"Now, go get ready," the leader commanded the two. "I don't want to have to lose my best member." He eyed the Uchiha before escorting the two men out.

**:)**

"What route are we taking?"

Kakashi eyed the map. "Well, there's a coffe shop about seven miles away. That can be the rest point."

"SEVEN MILES!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yes, stupid," Sakura added. Then she turned to Itachi and flashed her pearly whites. "What do YOU think, Sasuke-kun?"

Itachi just shrugged, still grumpy from the meeting with Tsunade…

**:)**

Team 7 had gathered in Tsunade's office, but Itachi was late after his visit to the Uchiha territory.

"It's about TIME you got here!" Tsunade barked.

Itachi pursed his lips as he walked forward to join the team.

"Now, I have a mission for you all." The Hokage stood up and clamped cuffs, identical to the one around Itachi's wrist, around the rest of their wrists.

"Wha…?" Naruto lifted his arm to study the cuff.

"Lady Tsunade, what are these for?" Sakura asked politely, also studying her own.

"They're so I know that Sasuke's stays with you the whole time." She gave Itachi the death glare. "You four," she jabbed her four fingers at Kakashi, Sakura, Sai, and Naruto, "will get these off after the mission is over. Sasuke, however, will have to keep his on… forEVER!"

"WHAT!" Itachi stamped his foot. "WHY!"

"Because, it's like I told you earlier! You CANNOT be trusted under ANY circumstances!"

"Ugh!" Itachi rolled his eyes in utter frustration.

"Now, then. I've chosen this team to be bodyguards for the princess's travel back to her hometown. You will be escorting the Princess of the Water Country. But you only have to get to a certain point, where the next bodyguards will be waiting to escort her the rest of the way. Also, be easy on her. She doesn't know what the hell is going on or where she is. She can't remember a thing."

"YES, a PRINCESS!" Naruto jumped up and down excitedly.

"Shut up, Naruto! She's in the room right next to this one!"

"But Tsunade—"

"BUTTON LIP JUTSU!"

Suddenly, a pink button appeared over Naruto's lips. He brushed his fingers across them, a startled expression on his face. The other four in the room dropped their jaws to the floor.

"Now, who's next?" Tsunade asked, threateningly flitting her eyes to each individual, as if daring them to speak.

No one said another word.

"Very well," the Hokage said. She picked up a black walkie-talkie and said into it, "Shizune! Send in the princess!"

"Yes, sir!" A crackled voice came from the walkie-talkie.

The door opened behind Team 7, and in stepped Shizune. Trailing behind her was a beautiful young woman. Her long, purple hair fell down to her waist in a ponytail. Her large eyes were lined thick with eyelashes, and her eyes a deep crimson, with a bit of awkward and nervous in them as well. Her red lips were twisted into a nervous frown as her dark eyes shyly, curiously wandered around the room.

Despite her beauty, she didn't exactly take on the appearance of a princess. She wore a tattered white dress that was cut in uneven strips around her pale chicken legs. She had no shoes on, and her hair was a bit messed with.

"Team 7," Tsunade said, standing up and walking to stand next to Shizune and the princess. "This is Princess Emiko of the Water Country. Emiko…"

The princess nervously snapped her head in Tsunade's direction. "Wh-what?" she stuttered.

"These ninja will be your temporary escorts," Tsunade said kindly. Too kindly…

"Oh, um… hi." Emiko said, dropping her eyes to the ground. Her cheeks became a rosy pink.

"Emiko has just arrived, and hasn't gotten much rest. We already knew who she was, and we wanted to get her back to her country as soon as possible. Please go easy on her.

"She's… a princess?" Sakura was at Emiko's side, looking her up and down with an unsure expression on her face. Sakura lifted a strip of dirty white cloth from Emiko's outfit and examined it closely.

"Oh, um… yeah, I guess. I didn't know I was, but… I guess that I'm the princess of a country."

"The _Water_ Country, Emiko," Tsunade said, her voice literally dripping with sugar as if she were talking to a small child. "You are the princess of the _Water_ Country.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot…"

Tsunade beamed, but her expression was soon changed to a scowl in Itachi's direction. "Come here, you!"

"Wha— WHAT DID I DO!"

Tsunade stomped over and clamped something onto his wrists.

Handcuffs.

"You will NOT be hurting this young lady in ANY way!"

Now she was clamping something onto his ankles.

MORE handcuffs.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Itachi yelled. "What do you think I'm going to do? And how am I supposed to travel with these… _things_ on my ankles!"

"Well, Sas-u-ke," Tsunade enunciated. "I think you're going to try and… repopulate… your clan." She said the word "repopulate" with a rather awkward hand gesture. "Secondly, you'll just have to hop.

"WHAT!"

**:)**

Can you see why he was so bitter?

"Where's the point the other bodyguards are waiting at?" Sai asked curiously.

"Mmm…" Kakashi squinted down at the map. "Not too far from the coffee shop. You know, I know the lady that works there. She has a HUMUNGOUS nose… maybe we'll get a discount on coffee."

"Is there ramen?"

"Yes, there is ra—"

"ALRIGHT! LET'S GO!"

As Naruto ran down the path, Sakura, Kakashi, and Itachi all watched him as they sweatdropped. Sai, however, walked up to the princess and extended his pasty white hand.

"I haven't officially introduced myself," he said, taking her hand. "I'm Sai."

"H-hey…" she said, looking very nervous and desparate.

**:)**

"What route should we take?"

Speak of the devil…

Sasuke looked down at the map he was holding, just like Kakashi was doing at this VERY moment.

"There's a coffee shop a ten miles away. That can be our rest point."

"TEN MILES!"

"Yes, stupid. Ten miles. Think you can handle that?"

"No…"

"Well, deal with it then, dammit!" Sasuke was also grouchy like his brother. He did NOT want to go back to Konoha…

I don't blame him.

"Hey, can I see that map again?" Kisame asked.

"Sure." Sasuke handed him the map.

Kisame snatched it and looked at it closely. Suddenly, his face brightened with a realization. "Hey! I've been to that coffee shop! Is it that one with the lady with the HUMUNGOUS nose?"  
"Um, sure, I guess…"

"Okay, then. Let's stop there!"

The two set off on their journey as Team 7 began theirs, taking the same path at opposite sides, completely unaware of what they would encounter.


	16. The Walk To The Coffee Shop

**Okay, let me explain why it's been taking so long. So there's "IT" to worry about. I have both ballet and karate on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And on the other days, I want to hang out with my two best friends, since all our lives are being taken over by all these stupid activities. But I like karate, so yeah. Dance is just OKAY. It's ballet... I'm mostly just taking it since it's the "core" of all types of dances, or whatever. So if I take another type of dance, then I will be EXTRA good at it! ^_^ Oh! And I JUST got my pointe shoes on Saturday! They hurt, but I love them! It's a good kind of pain. :)**

**Kay, so you know what would really make my day! Just guess... it starts with an r...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sai was walking really, uncomfortably close to Emiko, his eyes wide and inspecting.

The princess cautiously leaned into the hyperactive blonde (who was now a little calmer). "Um, Naruto…" she muttered shyly.

Naruto looked over at her. "What?" he said lazily.

"I-is _that_" she flipped her head over in Sai's direction, "normal?"

Naruto glanced over at Sai. "Oh, you mean Sai?" He said this a little loud.

Sai looked over. "What about me?"

"Uh, no! We're not talking about you!" Emiko said.

"Yes, Sai is acting normal right now."

"O-okay…" Emiko looked down at the path they were walking, flushing red with embarrassment.

"NARUTO, you STUPID JERK!" Sakura pounded the blonde on the head.

"OUCH! _Why_, Sakura-chan!"

"If you weren't such an IDIOT all the time, maybe I woudn't HIT you so hard! Use your head before I have to pound more sense INTO it!"

Now Sai was looking in his book, frantically flipping the pages until he closed it and looked at Emiko again. "So, Emiko, you know what would look great on you?"

"W-what…?" the princess asked nervously.

"Me."

A gay baby was born in the awkward silence that followed Sai's one, uttered word that made a very large difference in the atmosphere around them. Even Kakashi put his precious book down and stopped in his tracks, staring wide-eyed at Sai.

"SAI!" Sakura yelled. "Where did you get that stupid pick-up line from!"

"I read it in a book."

"I'm going to CRUSH you like a little insect!" Sakura cracked her knuckles and began stomping toward Sai.

"What did I do wrong, hag?"

Sakura stopped. Her face was bright purple with anger, and a vein popped in her head.

"That is IT! SAI, I WILL KILL YOU!" She was speeding at the speed of light towards Sai. Naruto grabbed her left arm as Kakashi grabbed her right.

Emiko hurried away from Sai, towards the only one that was available to cling to. She rushed behind Itachi and clinged to the back of his clothes, timidly watching Sakura go crazy from behind his shoulder. Itachi just stared in shock, his jaw literally touching the ground.

Let's just say that things weren't too pretty and ended in disaster.

Poor, clueless Sai…

**:)**

Meanwhile, Sasuke and Kisame were having a heated debate about whether cappuccino or latte's were better.

"Lattes are creamier, therefore more delicious!" Sasuke belted.

"Well, cappuccinos are foamier, nevertheless more scrumptious!" Kisame cried.

There was a brief pause as the two glared at each other.

"You have the worst taste in coffee," Sasuke said bitterly.

"No, you do," Kisame said coolly.

"No, you."

"You."

"You."

"You."

"You."

"You."

"You."

"You."

The argument lasted like this for about half an hour before Sasuke dropped the bomb. "Kisame, this is stupid!" he said in one, frustrated breath. It sounded like he had just said one word. So, it was more like, "KISAMETHISISSTUPID!"

"You're stupid," Kisame said, looking hurt. He kept walking, but Sasuke stopped to flip the birdie at the back of his head.

As this happened, Kisame abruptly stopped. Sasuke put his finger down. "Um, Kisame?" he asked, slightly concerned.

"What. Was. That." Kisame said dangerously low, a vein popping in his head.

Sasuke sweatdropped. "Um, what… what are you uh… talking about?"

"Don't pretend you don't know." Kisame's voice was trembling, along with the rest of his body.

"I don't know!" Sasuke said desperately. But Kisame obviously knew he was a big fat liar.

Suddenly, and I mean, VERY suddenly, Kisame turned around and shrieked at Sasuke.

"!" Kisame held SameHada directly over his head, and his bloodshot eyes were practically rolling into the back of his head.

"Kisame, NO!" Sasuke screamed, his voice filled with fear and regret.

"AYAYAYAYAYAYAYAAAAHHHH!" was the response that Sasuke got back from Kisame. Suddenly, the blue shark man was charging at Sasuke, SameHada still raised dangerously above his head.

"STOP!" Sasuke yelled as he began running.

Yeah, Sasuke. Because yelling "STOP!" really solves everything.

Kisame chased a fearful Sasuke down the dirt path. And man, was he a fast runner. Sasuke knew he was no match for the maniac at the moment. All he was worried about was getting away from him as fast as possible.

_Think, Sasuke. THINK!_ Sasuke thought of the best, fastest way to get away from Kisame (way, away, Kisame… that was like, a triple rhyme! I'm awesome! :D).

Lucky him! A lightbulb appeared right over his head!

Okay, so have you ever played "The Legend Of Zelda"? Well, Sasuke had when he was a young boy. He had noticed that Link seemed to get around faster by rolling. That was his solution!

Quickly as can be, Sasuke dropped to the ground and began somersaulting along the path.

"… Wtf!" Kisame stopped and lowered SameHada, his eyes now filled with pure confusion as he watched his partner rolling as fast as he could (which really wasn't that fast) down the pathway.

"AAAHHH!" Kisame heard the Uchiha's screech in the distance. He sweatdropped.

"I worry about him," Kisame muttered to himself.

Hang in there, Kisame, only two miles to go!

**:)**

"So, I think Sai has a little crush on Emiko." Naruto giggled as he stared across the coffee shop where Sai and Emiko were sharing a booth, sitting across from each other, engulfed in a rather awkward-looking conversation.

Sakura glared at Sai from across the room. "He'd better not be making a fool of himself," Sakura said. "We're with a PRINCESS, for crying out loud! A PRINCESS!" She slammed her cup down on the table, rocking it dangerously.

Itachi snatched his mug up. "Careful! I don't want to spill my latte!"

Sakura had BRIGHT RED roses blooming on her cheeks. "Oh, sorry, Sasuke-kun…"

"Wait… Sasuke… you got a latte!" Naruto had a trace of anger in his eyes.

"Um, yes…?" Itachi said nervously.

Now, it was Naruto's turn to slap the mug on the table. "Dammit, Sasuke! Another reason to hate you!"

"Wha—! WHAT DID I DO!"

"Cappuccinos are better, and you KNOW it!" Naruto yelled.

"No, lattes are better!"

"Nuh-UH!"

"Lattes are creamier, therefore more delicious!" Itachi belted.

"Well, cappuccinos are foamier, nevertheless more scrumptious!" Naruto cried.

Is this looking familiar?

There was a brief pause as the two glared at each other.

"You have the worst taste in coffee," Itachi said bitterly.

"No, you do," Naruto said coolly.

"No, you."

"You."

"You."

"You."

"You."

"You."

"You."

"You."

"You guys are being so OBNOXIOUS!" Sakura screeched.

Kakashi just sat there, reading "Make-Out Paradise." He giggled as he read a suggestive sentence.

Naruto glanced over at his sensei. "Aww, not again! Don't tell me you're reading that again!" He folded his arms and looked down at his coffee. "Pervy Sage's books aren't THAT great."

Kakashi flashed his gaze up to Naruto for a split second then back to his book. "They're good, you're just not mature enough to enjoy them."

Naruto looked mildly offended. "I AM _TOO_ MATURE!" He screeched. "I'm just sick of them because he always makes me read his transcripts!"

"Naruto, you are NOT mature!" Sakura yelled.

"Agreed," Itachi added.

"Uh, yeah I am!"  
"Would you just SHUT UP!" Sakura pounded him on the head.

"OUCH!"

Needless to say, this was very embarrassing for Itachi. These were the losers that Sasuke hung out with? And counting Orochimaru and Kabuto…

Itachi would have to have a talk with his little brother.

The Uchiha stood up. "I'm going to get a refill," he said looking at his full-to-the-brim mug. Before anyone could make a comment, he stood up with his mug and went over to the counter, which was in the front room. He stood there alone, solemnly drinking his latte, watching the customers go in and out. It was dark when they had arrived, and now it was beginning to get pitch black.

Finally, he finished his hot cup of coffe and went to REALLY ask for a refill. Since this lady with the HUMUNGOUS nose knew Kakashi, she gave it to him for free.

"There ya go, dearie," she said creepishly, with a wink.

The Uchiha's eye twitched as he started back into the room the rest of his team was in.

Then, he heard the bell on the door ring. He didn't think much of it until he heard the lady at the counter.

"Hello, Kisame-chan. I haven't seen you in so long! How are you, sweetie?"

Itachi froze in place.

"I'm great. My partner and I are on a mission, so we decided to take a small break here." Such a ridiculously familiar voice. And his PARTNER!

This only meant one thing.

Sasuke was here.

* * *

**My deepest apologies about this short chapter. But I want to let you know that next is a SPECIAL! What will happen! Will the two brothers find each other amidst this small coffee shop? What will they SAY! Please, stay tuned as I continue to update!**

**Coming up: The Great Encounter Of The Uchiha's!**

**Stay tuned!**

**AND REVIEW OR ELSE!**


	17. The Great Encounter Of The Uchiha's!

**I'M BAAAAAAAAACKKK! WHOO! I'm sorry that it took forever to upload! I never have any time! WAAHH! :( But I made this chapter extra long just for you! It kinda sucks, but I wanted it do get done! I don't want to upset you guys!**

**Enjoy!**

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* * *

_

_Ding!_

As two criminals opened the door to the coffee shop, the lady behind the counter turned around.

Whoa, Kisame was SOO right about the big nose…

"Kisame-chan!" she said warmly, running up from behind the counter, wrapping the shark man in a large hug. While hugging, the two jumped up and down excitedly as they burst into a series of giggling and chuckling. Sasuke felt as though he were scarred for life.

When they stopped jumping up and down, the big-nosed lady slightly pulled away from Kisame, just enough to look up at him. "I haven't seen you in so long! How are you sweetie?"

Kisame grinned and unraveled himself from the woman's hug. "I'm great!" he said ecstatically. He put his arm around Sasuke. "My partner and I are on a mission, so we decided to take a small break here."

The big-nose lady extended her hand to shake Sasuke's hand with a wink. "Hey, hott stuff!" Sasuke shuddererd and quickly pulled his hand out of the woman's grasp.

She giggled then looked back at Kisame. "So, what do you want? It's on the house!"

"Sweet!" Kisame said happily. "I'll take a cappuccino!"

The lady looked at Sasuke. "And for you, honey-cakes?"

"A-a l-la-a-att-t-tt-e-e-e…" Sasuke stuttered nervously.

"Alrighty then, I'll be there as soon as possible!" She disappeared behind the counter.

Kisame turned to Sasuke. "Okay, Itachi. I'm gonna go find us a table. You wait for the coffee."

"Hold on, man!" Sasuke grabbed Kisame's shoulder before he disappeared. "I don't want to be alone with _her_!"

There was a silence as the two men listened to her tone-deaf humming from behind the counter.

Kisame looked at his best friend (or what he thought was his best friend) deep in the eye. Then, he uttered one word.

"Relax."

They had some sort of awkward staring contest.

"Besides," Kisame said more whole-heartedly, "you're NOT alone."

Sasuke looked around the empty shop. There was no one, as far as he could see. Maybe in the other rooms, but STILL!

"Um, yes I am, stupid!" Sasuke said, motioning around (more like flailing his arms in every direction).

"Actually, no, you're not," said Kisame. He flipped his head to his side. "There seems to be a young boy that just jumped behind that table over there."

Sasuke glanced around, but saw nothing. "Um, Kisame, you're a big fat liar—" When he looked back to where Kisame stood, he realized that he had somehow, magically disappeared. "Faggot," Sasuke mumbled. He looked around a little bit more closely, examining the room. Suddenly, he heard a rustle in the far corner of the room. The Uchiha's head snapped in the direction the sound came from. There, in the corner, was the most beautiful pot of flowers he had ever seen.

"Ah! How lovely!" Sasuke said aloud, clasping his hands together while he popped his leg and beamed at the flowers. He began to speed walk across the shop, wanting to admire the beautiful pink and red flowers up close.

But then he noticed something ELSE…

Behind the pot, he saw something. Someone. The back of his head was exposed, and he could see the familiar spiky black hair. That was too familiar. As the man turned his head slightly to the side, Sasuke could see the bangs falling over his pale cheeks.

Was this really happening?

Now, the flowers were the last thing on the young man's mind. He continued his speed walk over to the pot, reached out his right hand, and grabbed the back of the man's shirt. As Sasuke tugged on the Uchiha's shirt, he heard a yelp as he pulled him aggressively backwards, knocking over the flowers.

"NOOOO!" Both of them yelled as they watched the glass shatter. Sasuke looked up to glare… at himself?

Wow, he was looking into his own eyes.

Sasuke was angry. He was pissed OFF. He knew exactly who the real imposter was.

Itachi Uchiha.

Sasuke would do anything. ANYTHING. All he wanted to do was to kill Itachi at that very moment, but how could he. The younger Uchiha just stood there, gaping and shaking all over. Sweat was beginning to drip down his forehead.

_What to do? What to do!_ Sasuke was starting to lose it when all of a sudden…

"What. Have you done. To my hair."

Itachi was PISSED. Sasuke was here, in HIS body, knocking over the lovely flowers Itachi was hiding behind/admiring.

But what made him even angrier was seeing his own hair, NOT tied back like it usually was!

"What. Have you done. To my hair." Itachi said, dangerously low. His hands balled up into fists.

Sasuke reached back and brushed his brother's hair, looking a bit shocked. "I… I thought it looked really _wussy_ in a ponytail," Sasuke said, true honesty in his voice. Itachi wasn't too sure, but he sounded a bit like a sassy five year old.

"I hate it," Itachi said. "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it…"

"I don't care," Sasuke interrupted. "It looks better to ME, that's what matters. I mean, I'm trapped in your body, and all, it's not like I can help that at all…"

"That's not my fault!" Itachi snapped. "News flash, Sasuke- I don't want to be in THIS" he motioned to the body he was currently in "either!"

"Itachi, I could kill you right now! I could KILL you!" Sasuke said, hysteria rising in his voice.

_Oh, shit, he's about to start bawling_, Itachi thought desperately.

"Sasuke, settle down!" Itachi said. Because that will help TONS.

"NO!" Sasuke sounded even more like a sassy five year old.

"Shh, quiet down!" Itachi hissed.

"NO!" Sasuke said again, his black eyes beginning to well up.

Not good.

As if there was some sort of magnetic field around the two brothers, everyone that was associated with them appeared out of the other rooms. Kakashi, Sakura, Sai, Emiko, Naruto, Kisame. They were all there.

_Shit! This is humiliating!_ Itachi thought upon seeing Kisame.

First there was silence. Then there were shocked expressions everywhere.

As Naruto's eyebrows narrowed downward, he attempted to charge at Itachi (which was actually Sasuke). Kakashi and Sakura both held him back, while glaring at the Uchiha.

"Dude, Itachi," Kisame said, giving Sasuke a weird look, thanks to the watery, bloodshot eyes. "What's up? Did you tell him the truth, or something?"

"WHAT TRUTH IS THERE TO TELL!" Sasuke yelled, his voice cracking. Itachi face-palmed. "Why does everyone keep saying something about 'the truth'?"

"Because, there IS a truth, you imbecile!" Itachi screeched.

"What the hell is going on!" Kisame asked, looking at the two bewilderedly. "Itachi, you're acting like you're Sasuke, or something."  
"Look," Itachi looked up at his pathetic younger brother (which he hated to admit, but Sasuke was making him look pretty sorry right now). "If anyone is about to start sobbing, it should be me. And do I look close to tears?"

"You look close to exploding," Sasuke automatically responded.

"I AM!"

"SO AM I!"

"UGH!" Itachi said, exasperated. "Sasuke, just let me talk to you!"

"You ARE talking to me, dummy!" Sasuke said.

"Whoa, back up a sec," Kisame suddenly said from the other side of the room. "Did I just see Sasuke call Itachi 'Sasuke'? And Itachi responded to that?" Kisame was giving the brothers a rather puzzled look. "That's real… trippy," he said lamely.

"Sakura? Sakura!" Kakashi was suddenly saying. The room was silenced as everyone looked over at the pink haired girl, her cheeks flushing pink. She was more pale than usual, watching her beloved Sasuke (actually Itachi) with fear in her green eyes. Then, just like that, she collapsed. Blacked out.

Kakashi leaned down and picked her up bridle style. Then he looked over at Naruto.

"Naruto! Get Sasuke and let's get out of here. Sai—" He looked at Sai seriously. "Do you think you can handle taking Emiko to the other bodyguards by yourself?"

"Uh…" Sai was turning pink. "S-sure…" He glanced at Emiko, who was clinging nervously onto his shoulder. This made him blush even more.

Kakashi put a hand on Sai's free shoulder. "I'm counting on you. I know you can do it."

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei," Sai said formally. Then he took Emiko's hand and the two ran hurriedly out the door.

"Aww, but I want to fight!" Naruto complained.

"Ooh-la-la!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the uncalled for voice. There stood the lady with the big nose, looking flirtatiously over at Sasuke and Itachi. "Check it out! Brothers! And they're both sexy! I think I hit the jackpot!"

Must I say that a gay baby was born?

She began to flounce over. "Hello, boys. How's about a threesome tonight?" Suddenly, she stuck her hand in her bra and threw a condom down on the floor. Worst hint ever. "Oopsie, I think I dropped this!"

Naruto gawked at the old, unattractive woman. "Okay, nevermind about the fight. We're out of here, Sasuke."

Naruto took fast strides across the room until he was at his "teammates'" side.

"Wait, Naruto…" Itachi looked at his brother. "I want to talk to him. Just for a minute."

Naruto looked at him as if he were going psycho. "No! You're coming back to Konoha right now!"

"Just for a minute!" Itachi pleaded.

"Not a good idea, Sasuke!" Naruto was nervously eyeing the giggly coffee shop owner. Then he leaned into him and said quietly, "You're not actually thinking about the threesome, are you?"

Itachi's eyes widened and he looked crazily at Naruto. "No! I just have to settle something with him! There's no fight! No threesome, either! Just talking!"

Naruto folded his arms and glared at the two brothers. "Okay, but Sasuke…" he looked desparately at what he thought was his best friend. "Don't get all obsessed with revenge again. Please, just don't let it happen. I…" He looked away for a second then looked back up at "Sasuke." "I don't want to lose you again. None of us do. It was really hard when you were gone. Just… just stay with us. Please."

The real Sasuke looked over at Naruto, knowing that he meant what he was saying. He wanted Sasuke back, even though they had their ups and downs before he had gone with Orochimaru. Naruto cared more about him than he cared about anyone else in Konoha.

Itachi sighed, and then smiled at Naruto. "Trust me, I won't let anything happen."

Naruto looked suspiciously at "Sasuke." Then, without saying another word, he was gone. Everyone else was gone.

Sasuke started talking. "Why did you do it?" he asked crossly.

Itachi sighed and looked at the ground. "You know why," he said. "Because I wanted power. The power of the Mangekyou Sharingan. And look, I have it." Itachi said, keeping up his lie.

"Tell me something," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes. "Is there a truth behind it?"

Without blinking an eye, Itachi replied "That IS the truth."

Then there was one of those meaningful silences where Itachi knew that Sasuke knew he was lying, and Sasuke knew that Itachi wasn't telling him what he wanted to know. But at the same time, Sasuke WAS getting what he wanted to know, because he didn't want to believe that there was a truth behind why he killed the clan. I mean, what would be a good enough reason for him to kill them ALL?

Well, that's what Sasuke was thinking, anyways.

"Just know something." Itachi said. Sasuke snapped out of it.

Itachi knew what he wanted to tell Sasuke: The real truth. But he couldn't! That would ruin his plan of vengeance! So he fought back the urge to tell his beloved younger brother and instead said: "When we both get our bodies back, keep expecting to fight. We will fight one day, and whoever is the last man standing will be the most powerful man in the history of the Uchiha clan. Remember, Sasuke. I'll be waiting for you."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes even more. "And I'm ready. Just wait. Wait until we're back where we're supposed to be."

"I'm looking forward to it," Itachi said sorrowfully. But upon seeing Sasuke's smirk, he forced one on his face as well.

Suddenly, there was a bang in the other room where Naruto, Kisame, and the coffee shop owner had disappeared to. Both Naruto and Kisame stumbled out, looking enraged.

"Oh, no you didn't!" They both yelled at the same time. Then, they looked over at their teammates and began taking long steps over to them.

"That's it, Sasuke. You are NOT going to stay another second here with the freaky big-nosed rapist! We're heading BACK to Konoha right now!" Naruto was saying as Kisame said: "Okay, we're not staying here, that lady is a creep. I thought she was nice, but NO! She's going to rape you both if you stay here another second! We're leaving, Itachi!"

At the same time, Kisame/Naruto grabbed Sasuke's/Itachi's wrist.

I think that they found their doubles that night…

Before they were separated, Itachi looked over his shoulder, as if he were possessed by something, and automatically said:  
"There really is a truth. I just couldn't tell you."

Then he was gone.

**:)**

Kisame dragged Sasuke along, who stumbled behind him, out of the coffee shop.

"What the f*ck was that!" Kisame looked incredulously back at his partner. "Thanks to you, the Jinchuuriki got away!"

"Uh, actually you could've stopped him…" Sasuke pointed out.

"Don't be such a smart aleck. Itachi, do you realize what this means?"

"We're goners."

"Exactly." Kisame looked up into the dark sky. "We're not in the Akatsuki anymore. We're on our own."

Sasuke also looked up into the sky. He did NOT want to admit it, but… he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay there, maybe in his own body, with everyone. Deidara, Hidan, Konan, Kakuzu, Zetsu, Sasori, Pein… he'd miss them all. More than anything. Well, besides Itachi…

He was still trapped in Itachi's body, but after that whole episode, he wanted Itachi back even more. He wasn't sure why. Did he want to kill him? What was this truth, and was it real? Itachi said it was… There were so many unanswered questions, and it was driving him absolutely crazy.

"Hey, Itachi." Sasuke looked over at Kisame. "Are you gonna miss being in the Akatsuki? I mean, I know that you didn't want to be here to start with, but… will you miss it now?"

Sasuke looked down at his feet, slowly walking beside Kisame's. "I guess I am. I mean, being around them so long has gotten me attached, you know…"

"Yeah," Kisame said. Then he looked at his partner with a quizzical look on his blue face. "Uh, and why did you say you were Sasuke in there?"

Sasuke sweatdropped. "Um… I don't know… I was just… so shocked… to see him."

"O...kay…?"

Awkwardness…

The two walked in silence for about twenty minutes, slowly, taking their time getting back to the base. Then Kisame broke the silence.

"Itachi, do you know where you're gonna go?"

Sasuke frowned. "I want to go back to Konoha." He was telling the truth. "But I don't know how I can do that…"

Kisame frowned as well. "You'll find a way," he said quietly.

"What about you, Kisame? Where are you gonna go?"

Sasuke thought he could see a slight smile on his lips. "I want to go back to the ocean," Kisame stated. "I've always wanted to keep living there, but instead I joined the Akatsuki."

"Then why'd you join?"

"Because, I just wanted to be powerful," Kisame said. "And I am. Akatsuki has taught me a lot. But, now that I think of it," Kisame looked at the Uchiha with a sad smile on his face, "it's probably time for me to say goodbye."

Sasuke sadly smiled back at the man that he had become so attached to over the half year. "Yeah, me too," he replied. And he was telling the truth.

The two criminals had walked so slowly, that by the time they got back to the Akatsuki base, dawn was turning to morning. As they walked in, they heard everyone merrily laughing and chatting in the kitchen. Followed by a "F*CK YOU!" by Hidan, a giggle from Konan, and a "WHOOO!" by Deidara.

Sasuke and Kisame trekked upstairs to Pein's office to deliver the news.

"WHAT!" Pein slammed his fist on the desk, making it crack slightly. He didn't seem to care.

Both men in the room with him winced. "Hey, chill," Kisame said coolly.

"You both do know what this means, don't you?" Pein said, heeding Kisame's advice.

"Yeah, we just wanted to let you know. But we're gonna go pack up now," Kisame said. He was being much more mature than before they had left on the mission. Sasuke and Kisame both turned and headed toward the door.

"Hold up, Itachi," Pein said from behind. "I'd like to have a word with you. Kisame, I'll speak with you after."

"Yessir," they both said at the same time. Kisame left the office, leaving Sasuke standing there alone with Pein.

The leader stood up and made his way over to where his favorite member was standing. He placed his hand on the Uchiha's shoulder. "Itachi, I don't want to do this. You know I don't. But I have no choice." He stared intently into his eyes. "If you can't do this, then I don't know who else can."

Sasuke nodded. "I understand," he said.

"Just know that I'll miss you, I can't even describe how much, and I'll never have another member that can ever take your place. Ever."

Sasuke looked into his sincere, sad eyes. "A-aww…" he said rather pathetically, his voice shaking.

"Itachi, please don't…" Pein winced, and now his voice was shaking.

"I'll miss you too, I can't even say how much," his voice was freakishly high.

Pein did this weird screechy thing before clutching onto Sasuke into a tight hug.

"Why! Why am I DOING this! WHY!" Pein said over Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke immediately calmed down. "Wait… what? Are you serious, you don't know why? Um, you know why you have to do this… it's a dumb reason, but still… you know…"

Pein stopped as well. "Oh, yeah… it is a dumb reason, but I keep to my word, you know…"

A gay baby was born. Pein looked away, as did Sasuke. They stayed like that for a LONG time… And I mean, it seemed like years, it was so awkward.

"Uh, can I go now? I kinda have to get my things together, and all…" Sasuke finally piped up.

"Oh, yeah, good idea," Pein quickly let go of Sasuke. "Uh, send in Kisame, I guess."

"O-okay." Sasuke hastily turned and was OUT of there. He walked down the hall to his room, trying to forget what had just happened.

He approached Kisame's door and knocked on it. "Uh, Kisame? Leader-sama wants to see you in his office."

"Alright," Kisame's muffled voice said from behind the door.

Sasuke walked further down the hall to his own room and shut the door behind him. The first thing in the room that caught his eye was Aname, sitting there on his bed.

"Hey," she said.

"Aname? What are you doing here? I thought I'd never see you again," Sasuke said, the shock plainly heard in his voice.

"Well, I have you all ready," she patted a suitcase next to her. "Sasuke, I know that you've enjoyed your time here. Don't try to hide it, I know you have. But it really is time for you to say goodbye. Besides, I have a plan for both you and your brother."

Sasuke raised one eyebrow. "Um, okay…"

"You'll see what it is soon enough," Aname said.

Because guess what? She had put a mystery item in HIS suitcase as well. Just like with Itachi's!

Oh, what is it? WHAT IS IT! I bet I'm driving you crazy! ;)

**:)**

The mood in the base had changed from "YEAH! BATTLE OF THE SEXES RULES!" to " :,-(" Yes, it was a very sad day for them all. And also very dramatic.

Kisame and Sasuke walked slowly down the hall, saying their goodbyes to each individual member. Konan gave them both a big hug, telling them through her sobs said that she would kill Pein for doing this.

They both walked out the door. The day was nice and sunny, but it sucked because they were pretty much leaving all their friends behind. Now would YOU enjoy that? I think not!

Kisame looked over at Sasuke. "Well, I guess this is it…" he said sadly.

Sasuke silently nodded his head. They stood on the path, right in the middle of an intersection. "Yeah. Well, I hope you enjoy the ocean," Sasuke said with a sad smile.

"Yeah, thanks," Kisame said. "Good luck, Itachi. If you don't know where to go, then you can always come with me. You know where I'm going."

Sasuke nodded his head. "Thanks Kisame. I'll miss you," he said truthfully.

"I'll miss you too!"

Then there was a dramatic "Goodbye forever! Nice knowin' ya! You were my best friend, I will miss you soooo frickin' much! May we cross paths again!" type of hug thing.

Then, when they separated, Sasuke said. "See ya later."

Kisame smiled. "Yeah, I'll see ya later."

Then, they turned to walk their separate ways.

* * *

**Haa, I'm sorry about the dramatic ending. But you should THANK me for finally putting this up! :P And making it extra long! So, I'm gonna try to do better... I really have missed this story! :( So I hope you liked it! Review my hard work, please!**


	18. WHAT'S THE OBJECT?

**FINALLY! I've missed writing and uploading like, every day! I wish I could, but my teachers must hate me, because today I ended up slamming myself in the face with my mathbook. I'm fed up, the the second term is only beginning... Well, don't fret! I'm trying! And I'm starting the next chapter already. Review, you'll cheer me up if you do :)**

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Birds were chirping outside. It was a lovely golden afternoon in Konoha.

So why was Itachi wasting his day INSIDE?

He lay in his bed on his back, staring up at the ceiling in thought. Crazy things had happened a few nights ago. He was still stunned that he had actually run into Sasuke at the coffee shop. I mean, would you expect that?

And what was even weirder is that he was just looking at himself the whole time. But it was Sasuke. That doesn't make any sense at all, does it?

This was about his fifth day, just laying there in bed thinking about it. Not a wink of sleep, or anything to eat or drink. How is that possible? It's not, last I checked, but apparently it is for Itachi.

"There really is a truth, I just couldn't tell you."

Shit, did he really just say that?

Sasuke looked back at him quizzically, but Itachi gazed forward into the night as Naruto dragged him back home. Apparently, he hadn't heard the words that escaped from Itachi's mouth.

That coffee shop owner… what does she think she is? Sixteen? Hot stuff? Stylish? I think not! All she is is a freak!" Naruto looked back at Itachi, obviously pissed off. "You should THANK me for getting your ass out of there!

"Um, thank you?" Itachi slowly raised an eyebrow.

"So what DID you want to say to Itachi anyway? Why didn't you want revenge anymore?"

Itachi thought for a moment. What should he say to Naruto?

Finally, he decided what to say: "None of your business."

Naruto's eyes widened before they narrowed in annoyance. "Aww, man! C'mon, Sasuke! You can tell me!"

"It's just that it's a… family thing."

"Uh-huh, sure it is…" Naruto said. He was still clutching Itachi's wrist and speedwalking towards Konoha. Itachi thought that maybe Naruto would cut off his circulation. He felt his hand begin tingling.

"Um, Naruto," he said, straining his hand.

But Naruto kept babbling on to himself about the coffee shop owner and how he was annoyed at "Sasuke" for not telling him.

"Hey, Naruto" Itachi said, this time attempting to twist his wrist. He looked down at his hand in the moonlight, and could see that his brother's pale skin was replaced with a light shade of purple.

But Naruto continued rambling on. "Augh, I hate that woman. And what tops this wonderful night off is that my own best friend won't tell me ANYTHING. I mean, _I_ would tell _him_ anything…"

"Naruto…?" Itachi said nervously as the purple shade on his skin got darker and darker purple. Naruto clutched onto his wrist harder, sending tingles throughout his body.

"He didn't deserve to get rescued by me if he's just gonna be all, 'Hey, Naruto, you suck and nothing is ANY of your business! So why don't you just go and die in a hole!'"

"Na…ru…to…" Itachi said weakly. His whole body was numb. His eyes drooped, but before they closed, he could see that he was COMPLETELY purple now.

"But no! He just decides that he can just blow me off! After all I've done for him, after all these years, he STILL thinks he's all that!"

Itachi was doing his best to drag himself along, but Naruto was walking so fast, that he collapsed behind him. Then his vision clouded black.

Omg, is it really possible to cut someone's circulation off that terribly!

It is in Narutoland.

Naruto facepalmed with his free hand as he looked down at his unconscious friend. "Great, now I have to carry him back…"

So, Itachi was confined to his bed. He had gotten better a LONG time ago, but he wanted to do nothing but just lay there.

"Sasuke," he uttered his first words since he fainted that night. "what are you doing right now?"

**:)**

"I'M DYING!" Sasuke screeched.

Yup, the genius had stepped RIGHT off a cliff.

_Think fast, think fast, think fast!_ Sasuke thought frantically as he zoomed to the bottom of the cliff. He quickly concentrated his chakra to his right hand and smacked it against the side of the rocky cliff. It sucked to be him at that moment, because his hand slid down the cliff from the momentum at a fast speed until he came to a slow stop. Don't you think that would hurt a little?

Yeah, Sasuke was bleeding like crazy.

"OUCH!" Sasuke yelped. He struggled to attach his feet to the side of the cliff using chakra. When that was accomplished, he let his poor banged up hand free and stood on his feet, as if the cliff were solid ground.

"Next time," said a randomly familiar voice from his left side, "look before you leap…" Aname was sitting down on the side of the cliff as if it were solid ground. She got up, then strolled up Sasuke's stomach until she got to his face. "Idiot," she said, flicking his nose.

Sasuke scowled. "You…" he said bitterly.

"I what?" Aname giggled, showing her usual smug personality. She then straddled his neck (awkward…) and looked closely into his eyes. Sasuke could've sworn that he saw the devil in them, smiling and laughing as he burned in hell.

Sasuke really didn't like Aname.

"Well, we better get back up there to the real world," Aname said mischievously. She grabbed onto his eye sockets for support as she let herself fall to the other side of his body.

"OUCH! WTF!" Sasuke cried. To top off his pain in his hand and eyes, Aname had now released her legs from his neck so that she was just holding onto his shoulders and her feet freely dangled off the cliff.

"Up and at 'em!" she called up to Sasuke. The Uchiha grimaced as he began his exhausting walk up the side of the cliff.

_My poor legs! My poor, poor legs!_ Sasuke thought sorrowfully as he hiked up the perilous cliff. It seemed like he was walking for years until they got to the top. When that moment had finally arrived, Sasuke pulled himself up and collapsed to the ground, huffing and puffing like a dog with rabies.

Aname walked in front of him and lightly kicked him in the aching abs. Sasuke groaned as she informed him: "You're getting out of shape, aren't you? You haven't trained in a long time…"

"No," Sasuke breathed. "I didn't. I couldn't, because YOU switched me into my worst enemy's body!" He was now sounding rather enraged.

Aname's eyelid twitched as she looked down at the pitiful creature called Sasuke. She shook her head, disappointed in the young man.

"Ugh," she said. "You didn't hear what he said the other night, did you?"

"What? I saw him like, five days ago! Are you serious! How could I remember something that happened so long ago!"

At first, Aname thought he was joking. But by the look on his face, she saw that he truly didn't remember.

"Let's give you a little hint," she drawled. Then she leaned down and said into his ear: "Something about a truth, perhaps…?"

Sasuke gasped as the memory flooded back into his brain.

"There really is a truth," he quoted, "I just couldn't tell you…" This left him thoughtful, not knowing what to make of it.

"The answer is in this," Aname said, looking very serious and determined. She held up the suitcase. "In this suitcase, the truth lies."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he gaped at the suitcase (which was rather large compared to the small angel). Could the truth really be in there? Was she lying? Sasuke saw in her rarely serious eyes that she wasn't messing with his head.

Aname extended the suitcase toward him. "Check and see what's inside."

Sasuke's fingers shook as he reached for the latch. He tried to grip onto them, but they were shaking too fiercly. About five minutes went by as he trembled and attempted to open his suitcase.

"Oh, for the love of the heavens!" Aname said, clearly exasperated. She snatched the suitcase out of his hands and undid the latches. Then she handed it back to him. "NOW look! Or else I'll check you into rehab!"

The Uchiha was pale. He forced his shaky fingers through the suitcase, sorting through clothes and toiletries. Suddenly, a light brighter than the sun shone from the suitcase, landing on Sasuke's face. Aname gasped, her eyes widening as she gaped at the light.

"AAAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH!" Sasuke screamed as his own eyes widened at the object he was looking down at. Aname was now pale herself, trembling and shaking all over.

"… wait a second." Sasuke stopped short, the bright light still on his face. He examined the object and then pulled it out. "It was just my mirror." Sasuke held up a small mirror shard. "Dang! It broke! I liked this mirror, I was actually planning to steal it from Itachi when I got my body back…"

Aname ran her fingers through her hair, many curse words sitting in her throat. Instead of swearing, she snatched the mirror shard out of the idiot's hand and glared up at him. "Look deeper," she commanded in a harsh voice.

Sasuke stuck out his bottom lip, pouting like a two year old, but obeyed, still aimlessly fishing through all the crap in the suitcase. Would he ever get to the real object?

Isn't this anticipating! ;D Sorry to torture you, but let's go see what Itachi's doing…

**:)**

What a surprise.

Itachi laid in his bed. It was about evening, but he wasn't planning to get up for anything for a loooonngg time. Even though everyone was trying to visit him, he would just lay there and stare at the ceiling.

"Oh my gosh! He has Alzheimer's! SAKURA! SAKURA! GRANNY TSUNADEEEEEEEEEE!" Naruto had said while previously visiting him that day. He had ran out, screaming helplessly for help (screaming helplessly for help… makes sense, doesn't it?). Sakura came in to inspect him, and then banged Naruto on the head, telling him that "Sasuke does NOT have Alzheimer's! He just wants to be left alone! Can't you see he's still upset from seeing Itachi!" She sat on the edge of his bed and smiled sweetly down at him. "There, there, Sasuke. It's okay, you have everyone in Konoha to care for you. We're all your friends, and we'll do anything to make you feel better. Guess what? I have some good news! It's about Sai—"

"SAI! Hehehe, I can't believe it!" Naruto butted in. "So Sai is staying in Emiko's castle with her! Do you see what's going on! They're in looooovvvvee!" Naruto cackled madly.

"NARUTO! Sai is being rewarded for fighting off all the ninja that were supposed to escort her back to her kingdom!" She turned back to her beloved. "You see Sasuke," she said, changing her voice from harsh to sugary sweet. "Sai escorted Emiko all that way until he came upon the other guards. But he was still worried about her, so he followed them and discovered that they were actually wanting to hold her hostage. So he fought them ALL off by himself! He then took her back to the castle and now Emiko's parents, the king and queen, want to give him a big reward. They might make him royalty!" She said happily. "I'm so proud of him! I wonder if he'll end up marrying Emiko! He seemed to really like her…"

"Ew, yuck! What if they get married at THIS AGE!" Naruto stuck his tongue out, disgusted by the idea.

"I think it's cute," Sakura argued.

"It's gross, that's what it is!" Naruto said.

"No!" Sakura was obviously starting to get frustrated. "No! Naruto, it's NOT gross! You should at least be glad that Sai is finally starting to understand emotion!"

"Well, I liked him better WITHOUT emotion…" Naruto said stubbornly.

Sakura slammed her hands down on the dresser. Naruto made some weird sound in his throat and ran out the door, quickly as possible.

"NARUTO, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Sakura ran after him, waving her fist in the air. She stopped at the doorway, put on her sweet face, and said overly nice, "see you later, Sasuke." Complete with her blowing a kiss in his direction. Then she continued running and screaming.

Itachi sighed. When would this torture end!

"Holy cow, are they always like that?"

Itachi looked over to see a familiar young girl, sitting on the windowsill, staring after the two that had just run out.

"Why are you here?" Itachi asked, slightly cross.

"Look, I know that you're unhappy with me, but I didn't plan for you guys to see each other at the coffee shop," Aname said honestly. "So now that that's happened, I guess it's time you take a look at this.

She hopped off her place on the windowsill and crawled beneath the bed. Itachi sat up, his back aching from not moving for so long. I mean, it'd been five days since he'd actually sat up, you know…

"Ah, here it is." Aname stood up, looking at Itachi like a little girl on Christmas that didn't get any gifts, and holding her hands behind her back. "Okay, I want you too see something. It's about Sasuke."

Itachi perked up a little.

"You didn't know this about him, but let him explain."

"What? Is Sasuke here?" Itachi looked frantically around the room, but saw no sign of his little brother.

"Not the present one, but the past one is," Aname said. Then, she carefully held up the object behind her back…

* * *

**Am I driving you crazy, or WHAT! Don't worry, I don't like cliffhangers either (cliffhangers like Sasuke in this chapter ^.^) so I'll update as soon as possible :D**

**Sasuke: Are you teasing me!**

**Me: It's a sign of love, Sasuke!**

**Sasuke: No! It's not! Look what you just put me through!**

**Me: Listen, if I hated you, would I be writing a book about you?**

**Sasuke: Well, judging by this story... yes.**

**Me: No! You're wrong!**

**Sasuke: Admit it, you hate me!**

**Me: Sasuke, if you're a good little boy, something good just MIGHT come out of this...**

**Sasuke: PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO SUFFER ANY MORE!**

**Me: *Slaps forehead* Just be patient, buddy! Hang in there! Because next chapter, you'll get to see something everyone reading this is just DYING to see ;D**

**Sasuke: *Groans* ...**

**Me: Hehehe... ;) See you soon!**


	19. Moment Of Truth! Part One

**Hey! I got this up quickly just for you! Because I know how much cliffhangers suck... Okay so for this chapter, I just wanted to say... does the song "All For You" by Sister Hazel remind you of Sasuke and Itachi, or am I just high? Or the song "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback! Am I HIGH? Or am I RIGHT?**

**Anyways, please review! I went through SO MUCH!... to put this chapter up :) I'll always respect you if you review :D**

* * *

Sasuke gaped, both touched and shocked by the object. He reached in and pulled it out, stroking the worn out surface.

"Is… is this what I think it is?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Yes, it is," Aname muttered back. "You gave that to him on his thirteenth birthday, didn't you?"

Sasuke nodded his head. "I-I can't believe he kept it…" He ran his fingers over the word that simply states what the object is.

"JOURNAL," the book read. He looked at Aname, who nodded her head toward the object. "Open it," she said bluntly.

Sasuke continued examining the object in his hand, letting many emotions fill his broken heart at the sight of it. Did this truly mean that there was a truth? That Itachi really did care for him all this time? There was only one way to find out.

Before he opened the journal, he looked up at Aname for encouragement. However, she had vanished. Maybe she wanted to give him a little privacy.

Sasuke opened the front cover to see the title page, which he had written himself before giving the journal to Itachi. "This journal is for Nii-san ONLY! Don't look or I'll do the fireball jutsu on you!" beneath these words was a picture Sasuke had drawn of himself doing the fireball jutsu on his father. Sasuke laughed at the stupidity. But he found it… bittersweet. He felt young and happy again, looking at that picture, holding the journal in his hands. He felt that same urge to be around his brother all the time, the one he had fought back for all these years. But this time, he let it out. He let himself long to be in Itachi's arms again.

It felt wrong, but Sasuke turned the page to the first journal entry.

Itachi had written in his perfect handwriting…

_Journal#1_

_Well, today was my birthday. My little brother got me a journal, so why not write in it? Besides, I feel like I have to get this off my chest a little, since I can't tell anyone in the Uchiha clan._

_First of all, my name is Itachi Uchiha. I'm thirteen years old, as of today, and I live in Konoha. I work for the ANBU Black Ops._

_It's an honor to be able to work for them at this age, but I've had to make a very big decision. The Uchiha clan is planning to take over the village, thanks to my father. If this happens, then another war will happen. I've already lived through that, and I don't want to have to see another Great Ninja War take place. I've never forgotton what had happened or what I have seen._

_So, I decided to spy on my own clan and tell the Hokage what they're planning. When I told him that they were planning the coup d'etat, he told me what to do. Kill everyone in the whole Uchiha clan._

_What else am I supposed to do? I can't let another war happen._

_I don't want to kill my clan. I don't want to kill my family. I can't stress that enough. But most of all, I don't want to kill my little brother, Sasuke. I don't even know if I'll be able to._

_But I have to. I can't do anything about it. It's already decided._

_I have two days to enjoy the time I have with my family. My world is about to end as I know it. Soon, I'll be all alone, the last Uchiha standing, a hero to Konoha. It was a hard decision. And it kills me to think about what I have to do. I can't even begin to imagine what I'll feel once my mission is complete. Especially after I kill Sasuke. After I kill him, I'll have nothing to live for, except the praise that I get from everyone in Konoha. That hardly makes up for anything._

_What I'm feeling is beyond words. You'd have to actually be in my shoes to know._

_At least I'm doing something good…_

_Journal #2_

_It's been a while since I've written. But tonight's the big night. I'm in my room, and I'm not planning to leave until it's dark outside and the clan is asleep. It was hard enough killing Shisui, so I can tell that this is going to be a long, torturous night._

_I listened to my mother humming in the kitchen, completely carefree and clueless about what would happen to her tonight. It's not her fault. She didn't think it was a good idea to take over the village. I'm sure that's the case with many other Uchiha's. But the Hokage told me not to leave any Uchiha's alive, no matter what._

_I also found out that Madara Uchiha's still alive. He wanted vengeance on the Uchiha clan, so I told him that I would kill them all. Tonight._

_Well, since I can't say it out loud, goodbye Uchiha clan. Goodbye, mother, father, and Sasuke._

_Here goes nothing…_

_Journal #3_

_I couldn't do it. Kill Sasuke, I mean._

_I killed the whole clan. But once I saw Sasuke, I realized something. He has more value to me than the village itself._

_I just hope the Hokage will understand that he must protect Sasuke._

_I told my little brother to become powerful enough to defeat me. He thinks that I'm evil now, and I hope that he follows the plan that I have for him. I hope that he avenges the Uchiha clan. And that everyone will see him as a hero for killing me, Itachi Uchiha._

_I should go talk to the Third now._

_Journal #4_

_He understands. It took me a while to convince him to protect Sasuke, but he said he'd do it. Danzou wants Sasuke gone, so I told him that if he touched him, I would tell everything that I know about Konoha to enemy countries. I will do it, too._

_I guess I'm leaving Konoha for good now. I'll miss my home, my family, and my little brother. I'll see him again. I'll see him when he's ready, and powerful enough to kill me. He'll restore the clan when I'm dead. He'll be looked at as a hero. I'm willing to die by his hand as an enemy, as a traitor, for him._

Sasuke read the first enries in awe. This was written by his brother. The man that had made this plan for him, which had actually been working splendidly.

"Itachi doesn't deserve to die," Sasuke murmured out loud, shocked by the sudden realization, as he gazed at the last few sentences of the last entry he read. He deserved to be a hero. A hero to Konoha. A hero to Sasuke…

Sasuke flipped past a few pages and came to a bunch of short entries.

_Journal #208_

_Deidara and Hidan are such fools. When will they shut up?_

_Journal #209_

_Today Kisame bought me a guide dog. Very funny, Kisame…_

_Journal #230_

_Sasori made a failed attempt at putting on a one man puppet show. It ended with the stage toppled over on Zetsu and Kisame, with broken puppets lying everywhere. Pein was not pleased._

_Journal #231_

_Today Kisame and Kakuzu dragged me along to go and buy a movie. I didn't have any money, Kisame didn't have any money, and Kakuzu refused to pay. He ended up killing all the employees. We had to run away from all of the ninja in the store. Good thing they didn't find our lair._

_Journal #232_

_Went fishing with Kisame. He obviously doesn't know that it's unacceptable to devour raw fish in front of your best friend, who's not half shark._

Sasuke flipped past some more pages. There were tons more entries like the ones he had just read. _At least something exciting happens to him everyday… _Sasuke thought. He flipped through the book until he reached the last entry.

_Journal #1050_

_Mission to Konoha with Kisame tomorrow. I hate having to go to Konoha. Makes me homesick. And besides, Sasuke isn't there anymore, so I can't see if he's ready to avenge our clan, which he wasn't last time. But that was a while ago._

_Kisame's very impatient with me. I guess I should quit torturing him and go get ready._

Now the rest was empty. This must've been the night Aname came along.

_There really is a truth. I just couldn't tell you._

He really had meant it. Sasuke felt like jumping right back off the edge of the cliff. He even looked over the edge for a little while, but then decided against it. Why didn't he think about it? Itachi was such a compassionate brother to him before that. And what did he say to Sasuke before he began losing his emotion?

_I'll always be there for you. Even if I'm just an obstacle for you to overcome_.

Sasuke brushed his fingers over Itachi's perfect scrawl. He had written this with his own hand. It wasn't a lie that this was the truth. The plain truth.

"Itachi." Sasuke looked up as the shock hit him. He had to find his brother again. The Uchiha stood up and whipped out his map, his fingers shaking as he held back adrenaline. He examined the map for the closest route to Konoha. As he searched, he realized that he had traveled much farther from Konoha than he thought.

_This may take a while…_ Sasuke thought. Once he had finally mapped out where he was supposed to go, he took off running in the direction.

"Sasuke!" Upon hearing the voice behind him, Sasuke stopped in mid run, like how a cartoon freezes in midair. Yes, he really did freeze in midair. Don't ask how.

Sasuke sighed and turned around. "What is it, Aname?" he asked the red haired girl behind, clearly annoyed.

Aname flounced over to him and looked up at him with the same determined, serious eyes that she had given him before showing him the journal. "Look, I want you to take this path." She jumped up rather high and snatched the map from the Uchiha's hands, crumpling it a little. She unfolded it and examined it closely before tracing her twig-sized finger over a certain route on the map. To Sasuke, it looked like she was burning something into the paper.

Aname handed it back to Sasuke. He looked down at it to see a straight red diagonal line from where he stood to Konoha. Duh, Sasuke, how did you NOT see that route?

"Go there," Aname said, too seriously. "You'll get to Itachi much quicker. And I mean WAYY quicker."

Sasuke gave one brief, rushed not of his head. "Thanks, Aname." Then, rather unexpectedly, he swooped down and hugged Aname. The first hug he had given in the many years since Itachi had gone.

Aname's large eyes widened even more in utter shock. It felt like Sasuke was squeezing the daylights out of her.

"Thank you. Thank you for showing me the truth." Sasuke's voice resisted shaking.

Aname then smiled and wrapped her arms around Sasuke. Having the daylights squeezed out of you can actually feel pretty good. Especially when you knew that you've just saved someone from a cruel harsh road ahead, waiting for them in their life.

Then, faster than you can say "pickles," (don't ask…) Sasuke was up, out of Aname's arms, and BOOKING it, faster than the speed of light, to Konoha.

Aname smiled as she watched Sasuke go off. She never thought this, but she was looking forward to being his guardian angel.

* * *

**YEAH! You finally know what it is! ;D Hehe! So... like I said, please review! Because the climax is beginning ;) Thanks for sticking with the story!**


	20. Moment Of Truth! Part Two

**Whoo! Guess what? We're almost to the climax of our story! How about that! Aren't you excited! I am! Ooh, this is getting tons of fun ^_^**

**So, please enjoy this chapter. Sorry if you find some of it's content slightly... disturbing :P Hey, that's what happens when creeps exist.**

**Anyhoo, you'll just have to read on. Please enjoy! :D**

* * *

Itachi was disgusted. In his hands, he held one thing that he thought Sasuke would never possess.

Not only was it a journal, but it was pink and frilly. The word "Diary" was printed on the pretty pink cover in curly fancy red letters, with red hearts on either side. Most of the lace that bordered the edges had been ripped off, and the front cover looked like it had been scratched rather violently, as if Sasuke had attempted scratching off the cover. In the bottom right hand corner, there was a large black splotch. Sasuke had even tried burning it off.

Itachi looked up from the hideous thing and up at Aname, who was in her usual place: perched on his shoulder. "What the hell?" he asked, obviously disgusted.

Aname burst out laughing. Her cynical smile was glued on as she tried to catch her breath, but gave in, clutching her aching stomach. "Oh man," she said between giggles. "Don't look at me like that! It's not my fault Sasuke's gay." This just made her laugh harder. Itachi just stared up at her, dumbfounded. "Oh man, I'm gonna piss! I'm gonna piss!"

"AUGH! DON'T PISS ON MY SHOULDER!" Itachi said, swiftly swooping her off of him and onto the bed.

"Hehehe! Hehehehehehehehe!" Aname landed limply on the bed, making the mattress bounce with her hard landing. Suddenly, in less than a split second, she sat up, dead serious, looking very angry. "That was a figure of speech, angels don't piss!"

"Um, sorry!" Itachi said nervously with a sweatdrop.

Aname's smug smile reappeared as she jumped high in the air and took her seat on the Uchiha's shoulder. She leaned down and said seductively in his ear, "I would suggest reading it. You'll find out something that you never thought was true." Then, in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Glumly sighing, Itachi decided to try ripping off the remainder of the lace that was secured to the journal. However, it wouldn't budge. He spent over an hour, tugging, banging, slamming it in the door/window, biting. He then began clawing at the cover, washing it, rubbing it against sandpaper, sawing it off.

Nothing worked.

Why did Sasuke want such a terrible thing? Was he secretly gay? Did he WANT to be gay?

Well, when he gave in and opened the heinous cover to the very first page, the truth was revealed.

_Dearest Sasuke-kun,_

_I know that you have a difficult time expressing your emotions. That must make you very unhappy. I know that you've gone through so much. So I thought that this lovely diary might help._

_Sasuke-kun, remember that you're very dear to me. I care about you more than anyone ever would. That's why, this Valentine's Day, I'm giving you this gift. It's more than a gift, though. It's my heart, my soul, everything good in this world. Everything that would ever make you happy. Please write, because I'll know if you don't, and I don't think I can take it if you didn't write._

_(forever),_

_Orochimaru 3_

Itachi threw up in his mouth a little. How dare Orochimaru do this!

But at least he hadn't gotten Sasuke a heart locket with a picture of him on one side, and Sasuke on the other. Itachi shuddered at the terrible memory that he hadn't quite forgotten…

**:)**

"What the hell!" Itachi said as he looked into the locket, infuriated.

Orochimaru was blushing and twirling his long hair around his index finger. He peered at Itachi through his lashes. "Do you like it?" he asked in a sweet girlish tone. Enough to make any guy think that he was an innocent sweet young girl. Shit, it even got to Itachi a little.

Instead of letting it slide, Itachi grimaced down at the pitiful… thing. He then made eye contact with Deidara (since Kisame wasn't in Akatsuki quite yet), who appeared to be suppressing a smile, like everyone else that was eyeing them from the couches of the Akatsuki family room.

"Itachi, the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew that you were special," Orochimaru said. "You were a young boy, I was a young man—"

"AUGH! That's NASTY!" This sentence from Itachi was followed by a series of coughing and gagging, while everyone else snickered from their seats. They had all gotten normal Valentine's gifts, like chocolate, or oversized venus killer flytraps, but not a love locket from any pedos.

"But Itachi, I knew you were the one. I've always felt this energy around you. One that I can't fight back. So, instead of fighting it, I've finally decided to tell you the truth. Itachi…" Orochimaru now had Itachi's handsome, heroic face (which wore a panicked expression) in his pasty white hands. "… I love you!" He finished triumphantly.

Everything began happening in slow motion. Orochimaru's eyes were closing, and he was getting closer and closer to Itachi, so that his face was all he could see. And… Orochimaru's pale lips were puckering.

"OMFG! OMFG!" Hidan was yelling. But Itachi didn't hear. He was freaking out too much on the inside.

_Think fast, Itachi! Think fast! Think fast! Think fast!_

The Uchiha swiftly ducked, right when Orochimaru had placed his lips onto Itachi's, but before a kiss actually happened.

"Wha…?" Orochimaru's green snake eyes flew open, only to see that Itachi had fled and was now standing several feet away across the room, his feet still sliding across the ground from the momentum.

Itachi was glaring at Orochimaru. He held up the locket so that everyone in the room could see. He then proceeded to quickly move his hands into hand signs, while holding the locket.

"FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU!" He yelled, clearly enraged. He took a deep breath, then let it all out, careless of where it went. In fact, Kakuzu and Sasori had to dodge the fire, jumping off the large beanbag, which emerged into flames… along with Orochimaru's heartfelt gift.

"NOOO!" Everyone in the room besides Itachi yelled. Most were just watching the large comfy sack shrivel into nothing, but Orochimaru was watching the remains of his gift to 'the one,' blackened and disintegrating.

"Take it," Itachi said coolly, sounding like he was trying very hard not to shriek. He then chucked the ruined, melted piece of metal with distorted pictures inside back to Orochimaru, which hit him square in the eye. The chain whipped his forehead, leaving a red gash.

"Ouch!" Orochimaru blinked and rubbed one hand over his aching left eye, and looked up with the right one, only to see Itachi descending up the stairs, swiftly yet furiously. "Itachi-san, wait! Come back!" Orochimaru yelled. But Itachi had already disappeared around the corner. Everyone listened in silence as Itachi walked, nearly glided down the halls, until they heard a door slam.

"Noo! Itachi! ITACHI, WHY! WHY MUST YOU KILL MY SOUL LIKE THIS!" Orochimaru shrieked, falling to his knees, holding out his arms and crying to the heavens. "WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN!"

The remainding Akatsuki members looked up at their leader, whose right eye was twitching with annoyance, a vein popping in his forehead.

**:)**

Itachi shuddered more. That had to be one of the worst things ever, besides killing the clan and Pein jumping off the walls and celebrating when Orochimaru had quit the Akatsuki. Maybe Orochimaru had put some type of jutsu on the diary to prevent Sasuke destroying it. For when Itachi attempted to rip out the front page with Orochimaru's letter, it wouldn't budge.

Itachi sighed and flipped the page over to the first page.

_This Sucks._

_I hate my life. I hate everything. And I hate this diary. I don't even want to write, it's just that when Orochimaru gave this to me a while ago, he figured out I wasn't writing and then he… I'm not even going to talk about it._

_I'm Sasuke Uchiha, and I live in a dark lair with two losers. I hate them both, but I should stay if I want to get powerful and kill Itachi. I hate him even more. No, I don't hate him, but what I feel is beyond hatred, beyond any feeling that any human has ever felt. I'll never forgive him for what he did…_

_Why am I even writing!_

_I'm pissed off. And writing about it doesn't help anything. Ever._

_This Is Just Nonsense. What The Hell!_

_Yeah, I don't even want to admit this, but Itachi seemed like a kind older brother. In fact, the best older brother anyone could be lucky enough to have. Sometimes I wonder why he changed so rapidly. All of a sudden, he was just…_

_Why Won't Konoha Just Leave Me Alone?_

_They don't own me. I'm not their pet. We're better off going our separate ways._

_I almost killed Naruto. Why doesn't he see that I'm better than him?_

_I'm better than everyone._

_I'm better than Itachi._

_Am I REALLY still doing this…?_

_Why do I keep writing in this ugly nightmarish thing, anyways? Oh yeah, because Orochimaru will have another fit…_

_Well, what does he expect me to write? If he wants me to "express my emotions," he's just asking for an angry Uchiha. Which is NOT fun._

_Itachi Was…_

_The so called "Pride" of the Uchiha clan_

_The one with all the fangirls_

_Abnormally smart/strong_

_What seemed like the best big brother in the world_

"_Perfect"_

_Caring_

_Kind_

_Gentle_

_Compassionate_

_Amazing_

_Honest_

_Itachi Is…_

_Evil_

_A traitor_

_A LOSER_

_Wrong about everything_

_Probably high all the time if he just HAD to go off and kill the clan_

_A fake_

_A pretty good actor_

_Good at making things up_

_A suckish ninja_

_A show off_

_The brother that anyone would dread having_

_Powerful… but not as powerful as I'll get_

_Did I seriously just make that list? And the list above? Man, I'm such a chick…_

_Well, what else was I supposed to do? I had the afternoon off._

_I Was Thinking…_

_You know, back then, it seemed like Itachi would do anything to protect anyone. What was he thinking? Seriously, was it really him that killed the clan?_

_Um, yeah, it was. Or else he wouldn't be in the Akatsuki._

_Sometimes I Wonder…_

_Sometimes I wonder if I'm gay. Boys don't write in lacy pink diaries._

_Orochimaru Is A Pain_

_He tried to rape me… again! WTF! This time, Kabuto had hit me over the head with something while I was training in the dojo. I woke up tied to a table. That's all I'm going to say happened._

_I wonder what Itachi would do if he knew… Would he be pissed, or would he just not care?_

_He probably just wants me dead…_

_LAST ENTRY EVER_

_Because I want to get something off my chest. Yeah, I'm obsessive over Itachi. But not just because of revenge._

_I miss him, okay! I really do. I miss our walks in the forest, and him poking me on the forehead all the time. I miss him, the clan, Konoha, and how everything else once was._

_Man, did I really just say that? I'm lying. I'm very funny, right?_

_And since no one's reading this, why do I keep asking questions that no one can answer? Because I'm just getting more and more idiotic as the days wear on. I'm going crazy…_

Itachi slammed the lacy pink nightmare shut, and looked off into the distance, as if he were receiving some type of freakish vision. Did Sasuke really write this? It was his handwriting. Sasuke, saying that he missed Itachi? Yeah, right… this had to be a joke.

"Well, it's not a joke, dummy. And it's about time that you read it. I thought that you would spend the rest of your life trying to destroy that thing." The familiar voice appeared along with a slight weight on his shoulder.

"No, this has to be some type of a joke," Itachi muttered, mostly to himself.

"Uh, no it's not. Why would an angel bring you such a long path just to pull a pathetic prank? It's real."

Itachi was beginning to retain his serious personality. The one where he had no emotions. Just… emptiness.

"Itachi, don't go back to the way you were," Aname said desperately, looking at the blank expression on his face. "Please. Haven't you learned anything at all? I know that you have. In fact, I know that this experience has made you feel better altogether. It's brought out what you've been fighting back all these years."  
Itachi looked up at her. She looked extensively upset. But she was still as beautiful as ever. If not even more beautiful.

"It's made you express your feelings for once," the red haired angel continued. "Haven't you wanted that?

"You don't understand," Itachi said, setting the journal down on the nightstand. "I… I wanted to die by Sasuke's hand. I wanted him to kill me, to avenge the clan." He looked in the mirror on the far wall, at his little brothers emotionless face.

A brief silence followed. Until Aname broke it.

"Well then, that sucks."

Itachi looked up at Aname, slightly shocked. "Wh-what?" he said, dumbstruck.

"Itachi, you're in Sasuke's body."

"No shit."

"Shut up, smart aleck. I did this to teach both of you a lesson. It was mostly meant for Sasuke, since he's… well, he's not very bright. But Itachi, I'm trying to tell you something too," Aname looked sympathetically down at Itachi before hopping off of his shoulder and onto the dresser. She leaned over and swiftly grabbed the journal, holding it up for him to see. "_Sasuke_ is trying to tell you something. Don't you see the hidden message?"

Itachi frowned. "Well, yeah," he said. "But it's just so hard to believe…"

"Itachi," Aname said quietly. "He's loved you all this time; he just didn't know how to handle it. He didn't know what to make of it."

Itachi felt like he had just been electrocuted. The shock struck him so strong, that he couldn't move for a few moments. "I… I thought that I made him hate me…"

"He wanted to hate you, but he…" Aname paused, looking at Sasuke's last entry. "…he couldn't let go."

Itachi stared out the window, only to see Naruto getting pelted with shuriken. "Hey!" he was yelling, while Konohamaru giggled evilly and continued tossing his weapons carelessly at the Jinchuuriki.

Itachi ignored this. "Aname," he said. "Where's Sasuke?"

"I'll tell you where to find him." She pulled a map out of thin air and began to trace a route, just like she had with Sasuke. "Take this path," she said handing him the map. "You'll find Sasuke."

Itachi snatched it desparately, nearly hyperventilating with excitement. "Thank you. Thank you so much," he said breathlessly.

"Hey, Itachi," Aname said uncomfortably, twisting her hair in her hands, awkwardly looking down at the ground.

Itachi pulled on a smile and made his way over to Aname. Carefully resting a hand on her shoulder, he said, "thank you for everything. I can't thank you enough." He felt himself getting hotter and hotter.

When Aname looked up, Itachi saw that she was also blushing. Upon seeing this, they both just started blushing even more. "Aah… I just wanted to say…" Aname fidgeted her fingers. "I have something for you once you're in your own body…"

"Oh, um… okay." After this awkwardness, there was another moment of silence. Finally, Itachi decided to break the uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Aname," Itachi said. The freakishly pretty girl gazed up at him. Before she could ask, Itachi said, "I have something for you, too."

Aname looked slightly surprised. "Oh, um, okay," she said, unsure.

Then, Itachi looked down at her. Aname couldn't help but notice the way he looked at her. Like she was… like she was actually important. Aname was breathless as she stared wide eyed up at him.

Itachi stroked her face, slowly and carefully, before gently taking his hand off her flawless face to rush out the door with his map.

Aname stood where she was left on the dresser, stunned. When she could actually move, she lifted her hand to touch her face where Itachi had.

Then, to her surprise, she giggled with satisfaction. She couldn't wait for him to find Sasuke and return to his original body.

**:)**

Deep in a dark lair subsided evil. Was it possible to have evil in such a lovely, perfect place? Apparently so.

"What!" an enraged, yet melodic voice yelled, echoing the dark room. "This isn't real. It can't be real! Aname, a guardian angel! No way!" A pair of smooth, pale hands knocked over the table in front of them, with such great force that it flew across the room and hit the opposite wall, making a large crack appear in the smooth surface. Yes, poor Aname had been watched all this time.

After a long, tense silence, the voice let out a smooth giggle.

"Well, whatever. No sweat, right?" The figure bent down and grasped her slender hand around something that had fallen off the table, which was originally lying in a box. A sharp, golden dart. "It should be a piece of cake to stop the little brat. After all, she's nothing compared to the rest of us angels." The hands twirled the dart around in their fingers as another laugh escaped a pair of insanely perfect lips. "And I know for a fact that she's no match whatsoever for me. She'll never be the guardian angels of the Uchiha brothers. The proper guardian angel," the figurine stood up from her place in a large cushioned armchair. She drew her arm back, ready to throw the dart in her hand, "would be me," she said, finishing her sentence as she let the dart zoom away from her fingertips. It zoomed across the room and hit something on the wall with the newborn crack in it.

A grand picture of a pitiful-looking Aname that took up nearly the entire wall, with darts sticking out in various places on her body. The latest one had landed perfectly where her heart lied.

* * *

**Review and I'll do something good :) ...Please? I'm very ill and can use some cheering up... And no, I'm not kidding.**


	21. UhOh, Look Who's Back In The Story

**Okay, I just wanted to say that I love you guys! Everyone that's reading my fic, you guys are like, my favorite internet people ever :) You just make me soo happy with your reviews that, no matter what, always put a smile on my face :)**

**And I also want to apologize about this chapter. It's not the best ever. Don't worry, the next will hopefully make up for it :) So enjoy anyways!**

* * *

What a beautiful night it was. The clear night sky was covered by leaves and branches all around the millpond. A silence filled the air between two shinobi. It was peaceful for one. But for the other, it was a depressing emptiness.

Orochimaru held a heart-framed photograph in his hands, refusing to take his eyes off of it. So beautiful, so majestic…

He stuck out his bottom lip and then hugged the portrait against his chest. "Why, Kabuto? Why is it that the only two men that I've ever loved have so cruelly turned me down? What do the Uchiha's have against me?"  
Kabuto didn't answer, but turned the knobs on the head of his acoustic guitar. Then, he began strumming a song, and then added his own voice.

"Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you? Been here all along, so why can't you seeeeeeeee… you belong with meeeeeeeeee?"

"Kabuto, please answer me," Orochimaru said, looking back down at his framed picture of Sasuke.

"Standing by and waiting at your back door. All this time, how could you not know—"

Suddenly, Orochimaru leaned over and snatched the guitar out of Kabuto's hands. Kabuto looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. "Orochimaru, I was answering you through a song!" He said desparately.

"What does Taylor Swift have to do with the current situation!" Orochimaru snapped, standing up from the grass.

"Aww… Orochimaru-san…!" Kabuto's voice was starting to get high and girlish with hysteria. "Just… just FORGET it!" Then, without another word, he sadly, yet frustratedly stomped off into the forest and back to the lair.

"I will!" Orochimaru called after him. The pedo freak sighed and looked up at the sky. "Sasuke-kun," he muttered to himself. "Where are you?" He held the picture tightly against his heart.

A light descended on Orochimaru, shining through his eyelids.

"Is it morning already?" Orochimaru mumbled to himself. Then he blew it off, keeping his snake eyes closed.

"Orochimaru… Orochimaru…"

"Kabuto, go away, I'm having a moment."  
"It's Sasuke, Orochimaru," a familiar, beautiful voice corrected.

Orochimaru's eyes fluttered excitedly open as he swung his head around, desparately looking for his loved one. "Where! Where are you, Sasuke-kun!"

"Haa, not really," said a crystal clear voice from behind. "I just wanted your attention."

Orochimaru spun around, only to be surprised by the most BEAUTIFUL creature of all time. Shocking blue eyes, shimmering silver hair that fell all the way down her long, curvy body to her feet, which were covered by a majestic Cinderella ballgown. A smile appeared on her red lips. "I've found you!" she exclaimed. Orochimaru jumped back.

"Why, you're… you're…" he looked her up and down, amazed at her indescribable beauty.

"I'm what?" she said, raising one flawless eyebrow.

"You're… you're…"

"What?" she asked again. Then she let out a giggle before asking, "Seriously, what am I? An angel?" and spreading out her magnificent wings, each several yards long and covered in blinding white feathers.

This shocked Orochimaru even more. He fell on his knees, staring up at the beauty before him.

She let out a laugh, crystal clear and ringing like a bell. "I was hoping that this wouldn't happen, actually. But what do you expect when you're the most beautiful, worshipped angel in heaven?" She folded up her great wings and kneeled at the pedo's side. "Listen, I've been looking for you for a while now. I understand that you were looking for a certain Uchiha?"

Orochimaru sighed and hung his head to the ground, reluctantly taking his eyes off the beautiful woman beside him. He felt her flawless arm wrap around his shoulders.

"Hey, listen," she said in a sweet voice, like she was talking to a lost child abandoned on the street. "I know a few things about Sasuke. Firstly, and he really doesn't know this, but you two… were destined to be together." The woman had to hold back a disgusted cringe when she said this.

Orochimaru's eyes brightened as he once again locked eyes with the angelic beauty. "I knew it! I knew it all along!"

"Secondly," she interrupted his celebration. "I know where he is and what he's up to."

Orochimaru drew in a sharp breath. "No…" he said in what would sound like a sarcastic voice, but he was serious.

"Mmhmm," she said, standing up. She began to circle around the snake man, who was still kneeling on the ground, and twirling her glossy hair in her fingers. "Now I'm going to tell you what to do and how to handle this, so stay put, or you'll be sorry," she threatened in a sweet sugary voice. "Sasuke is on his way back to your lair. He wants to come back to you. But guess who's also going his way?" She seductively swooped over and said directly into his ear "Itachi Uchiha."

Orochimaru felt like someone had just struck him with lightning. The world stopped.

The angelic devil didn't seem to notice, since she continued going on, standing up to circle him some more. "That's right. Both the Uchiha's will collide on that terrible path of fate if you, Orochimaru, don't do something to stop it. You can save Sasuke from getting killed. Only if you go as quickly as possible. And if you happen to run into Itachi Uchiha, then you had better kill him. Because he will not hesitate to slaughter his younger brother."

Suddenly, Orochimaru was on his feet, looking the girl desperately in her blue eyes. "Where is he?" he said taking her arms and shaking them a bit.

She looked down at him, a bit surprised at first by the quick action, then her lips curved upwards into a cynical smile. "Mmhmm," she laughed. "Very well. I'm glad to see that you accept. Let me show you where he is on this here map."

Out of nowhere appeared a map in her hand. She unfolded it and bent over to Orochimaru's height so that he could peer at the map as she explained. "Now, you're here," she said, tracing her finger over a point in the map, creating a red circle. "All you have to do is go twenty nine miles east, then fifty northeast. Here you will come across an intersection on the border of the fire country. It's a perfectly straight path, no kinks or turns. Just walk northwest along this path and you should run into Sasuke." Now there was a series of red lines, circles, and a large X where Sasuke supposedly was. The girl continued instructing him. "Once you manage to find Sasuke, then I want you to get him back to your lair as quickly as possible. You must do anything to get him back. Because coming from the other way is Itachi. If you see him, then like I have already said before, you must kill him immediately on sight. Do you have all that?"

Orochimaru gave one firm nod on his head, snatching the map out of her hand. "Thank you," he said.

The woman smiled. "Oh, it's no trouble sugar."

Before she could say anything else or do anything else, Orochimaru was down on one knee, holding her by the left hand as if he were about to propose to her. "Oh, thou beautiful creature," he said dramatically, staring piercingly into her eyes as she sweatdropped. "What be thy name?"

There was a short pause. "Uh…" the woman replied.

"Please tell me," he said, squeezing onto her feminine hand even more.

She just stared down at him like he were stupid.

"Thou art so fair and so delicate. I should love to know you better," the freak said. He unexpectedly leaned in and began to smootch her on the hand several times. The angel sweatdropped once again as he kissed her hand over and over again. Suddenly, it seemed that his kisses were starting to leave her hand. They traveled up her wrist, to her forearm, to her elbow. By this point, he was standing on his tippy toes.

It took a while for all this to process in the angel's mind. Finally realizing what was happening, she ripped her arm from creepy weirdo's grasp. "Ech! Get off of me you… you… YOU CHEATER!"

Orochimaru took a step back, putting his hand on his throat, furrowing his brow, and hanging his mouth open like a large O. "I am NOT!" he said, his voice cracking with offense.

"Yeah, you are! You are a cheater! A cheater, I tell you! Whatever happened to Sasuke!"

"HE DUMPED ME!"  
"WELL THEN, WIN HIS HEART BACK, YOU DOH-NUT!"

"I love Sasuke," Orochimaru said quietly, turning his back on her to pick up the heart shaped portrait of him. "But he doesn't feel the same. It was the same with Itachi…" He turned back around with the portrait glued to his chest. "I can't win his heart back. I can't even win his heart period."

"Unless you rescue him," the girl pointed out, raising her eyebrows.

There was a silence as Orochimaru took this in.

The angel placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck, Orochimaru," she uttered in a musical voice. A light descended upon her, far brighter than the sun. She spread out her enormous wings, and began to dissolve into the air.

"Wait! Wait!" Orochimaru cried desparately. "I still don't know your name! Will I see you again! WAIT!" He reached his hand forward, to where her hand was. But instead he took a handful of air where her transparent hand was, before it had fully disappeared.

There was a long, quiet, awed silence as Orochimaru stared at where the beauty once stood. Did that really just happen? Had he really been talking to an angel?

"Wow," was all he could say to himself. He looked around for proof that he wasn't dreaming, and found the map that was still grasped in his hand.

Tracing the path with his eyes, he found one word at the bottom of the page.

"Himiwari," it read.

"Himiwari," Orochimaru said aloud with a small smile. "What a lovely name."

**:)**

It was late. Konoha was sleeping. This would be the perfect time for an escape.

Itachi hid in a dark alley as two drunk men sang merrily all the live long night. _Shut the f*ck up_, Itachi wanted to tell them.

But he had to be stealthy. Like a ninja… Oh wait, he IS a ninja. Silly me! :P

But Itachi being out at this hour only woke a certain Hokage…

**:)**

Tsunade was sound asleep until she heard an obnoxious beeping noise in her dresser.

"AUGH!" she yelled as she awoke, startled. She tugged the drawer open and snatched the annoying radar, only to see where exactly her target was. In a dark alley.

Quickly, she grabbed her walkie-talkie and channeled it to reach a certain Hyuuga. "Neji, I need your help," she said.

**:)**

Finally, those darn drunk bastards were gone!

Now that that was finally over, Itachi stepped out of the alley. He looked left. No one. Right. The gate. No guards. He began to rush quickly, yet swiftly towards the gate. Perfect opportunity for an escape. Almost there. Just a little further…

"Sasuke!" A pale hand wrapped around the Uchiha's wrist like a death grip. "What are you doing here?"

Itachi turned around and squeaked a little when he saw what he saw. There was nothing more scary than an angry Hyuuga. "Uh…" he said hesitantly. "I, uh… noticed that there were no guards," he said quickly. "So I decided to uh… take over… yeah, that's it!"

"Then why were you just hiding in an alley?" Neji asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Wh— STALKER! HOW DID YOU KNOW!" Itachi yelled, stamping his foot on the stone path.

Neji motioned with his head towards the wrist he was holding. Oh yeah, that stupid bracelet thing that Tsunade had forced him to wear. The one that tracks him down.

"Tsunade sent me to stop you," Neji said after the pathetic silence. "Now tell me, why are you leaving this time?"

Itachi sighed. "It's none of your business," he said, looking out into the open world outside the gate.

"Sasuke, just tell me," Neji said, slightly annoyed."

"Nope," Itachi said, sticking up his nose like a two year old.

"Look, I don't want to pry, but does this have to do with Itachi?"

Itachi felt like he had been stabbed with a kunai in his stomach. "No…" he said quietly, obviously lying.

"Sasuke," Neji said, more quietly this time. "You don't have to get revenge. Everyone likes having you back in the village, and you know it. You're better off here."

"But, I have to!" Itachi said hysterically. "I simply MUST go and find Sasuke!"

"What? Did you say you have to find Sasuke?" Neji said, obviously confuzzled.

"Uh, did I say that! Nooo, I didn't say Sasuke, you dummy. I said Itachi… I mean, I said… I said… Susuka! I have to find Susuka!" Itachi was just making an idiot of himself.

"I know something's up, Sasuke," Neji said suspiciously.

Itachi sighed and looked away, unsure of what else he could say.

"So, do you want to talk about anything?" Neji asked.

Itachi looked back at the Hyuuga, who still had a death grip on his wrist. "Well, first of all, I don't want my circulation cut off again, so you can let go."  
"Can I trust you, though?" Neji asked slowly.

"Yes, I won't leave. Only if you promise to listen to every word I have to say, without interrupting. And if you promise to believe what I'm going to tell you. Which I don't know if you will…"

Neji nodded his head. "I'll do my best," he said letting go of his wrist.

"Augh, free at LAST!" Itachi said, marveling at his hand in wonder, bending his wrist and fingers like they had just thawed from an ice block.

"Yeah, shut up," Neji said, sitting down at the empty guard table. "Now let's talk."

So, Itachi joined Neji and told him everything that had happened to him. From chapter one, all the way to where we currently are. All the while, Neji just nodded his head and jumped in short phrases like, "I see." Or "Interesting," or whatever other short understanding phrases.

At the end of the story, Neji leaned back in his chair. "So, you're actually Itachi," he confirmed.

Itachi nodded.

And the slaughtering of the clan really wasn't your fault.

Itachi nodded again. "I know, you probably think that I'm eccentric," Itachi said. "But I promise I'm not lying."

"Then tell me, Itachi," Neji said, "about that puppet guy."

"Who, Sasori?" Itachi asked. "Well, he's in the Akatsuki. He watches Pinocchio like, every single day. And he likes to make puppets out of dead bodies. He's been wanting to make a Sakura puppet forever now. In fact, he's obsessing over it. But he doesn't have her body. So it sucks to be him."

"What about the guy that fights with explosive clay?"

"Deidara," Itachi said with a face palm. "He gets on my nerves. He's always fighting with Sasori about what art is or whatever. He also owns a Youtube claymation series, and he's pretty much an internet celebrity because of it. Everyone loves his series, but it sucks in my book."

"Oh! That series? You mean 'Claysplodes?'" Neji gawked at Itachi. "I friggin' love that series!"

"What? Why! I friggin' hate it!" Itachi replied.

Anyways, their conversation went on like this. Neji asking about Akatsuki members, Itachi telling about them. After a while, Itachi decided to end this nonsense.

"Look, you know that I have to go now," Itachi said, looking into the sky at the sunrise. "I have no time. The sooner I find Sasuke, the better."

Neji nodded. "Okay, I'll just tell Tsunade… I don't know. But I'll think of something."

"Neji," Itachi said quietly, gratefulness filling his solemn eyes. "Thank you for listening."

Neji smiled. "Hurry up," he said.

Then Itachi was gone.

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**The climax should start next time. Once again, thank you all for being patient with my slothishness on uploading, lol. And I'm glad that you're all enjoying my fic! You guys are amazing. What'll make you even MORE amazing is if you review again! :D Lol hopefully the next upload shouldn't be as long of a wait. Thanks again! ^_^**


	22. Utter Chaos Strikes

**Omg, sorry for the long wait! But I had to write a LOT and "IT" just keeps getting more and more demanding. Stupid teachers... Well, you can make my day by reviewing. And if you love this story, then check out my youtube channel, and tell your friends! Vids shall get better!**

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**You guys rule! Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Itachi walked a lonely road, the only one that he had ever known. Didn't know where it goes, but it's only him, and he walks alone.

"I walk alone, I walk alone!" he sang at the top of his lungs. No one was around. No ninja silently following him. No one was in sight. He was the only person in the world.

"MY SHADOW'S THE ONLY ONE WHO WALKS BESIDE ME!" he screamed. "MY SHALLOW HEART'S THE ONLY THING THAT'S BEATING!" All of a sudden, he heard something. It sounded like a stick snapping. Maybe he was just hearing things. He had been traveling for days, anyway. He was loopy. He proceeded with his terrible singing. "SOMETIMES I WISH SOMEONE OUT THERE WOULD FIND ME! 'TILL THEN I WALK ALOOOOOOOOONNNNNEEEEEE!" He should probably set up camp now. But he decided to travel a little further until he got to the river that he was about to cross, according to his map. He proceeded up a sloping hill, traveling all the way to the top.

Once he had reached the top, he saw that he just had to go back down. He didn't quite see the other side of the hill that he had to go down before…

"Sasuke-kun! SASUKE-KUN!"

Oh crap…

Orochimaru stood there, right in front of Itachi, blocking the path and looking desperately into his eyes.

"Wha… why are _you_ here!" Itachi snapped at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru walked forward, placing his hand on the Uchiha's shoulder. "Sasuke-kun, I know that—"

"GET THE F*CK OFF ME!" Itachi shrieked, vigorously smacking the pedophiles hand off of his shoulder. Thunder sounded in the graying sky.

"But, Sasuke-kun, this is serious!" Orochimaru said over the loud thunder. "We have to get you away from here. Danger is on its way!"

"Yeah, and here it is, right in front of me!" Itachi yelled, motioning at Orochimaru. Raindrops began to fall as Itachi pushed past Orochimaru. "Now leave!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Orochimaru shoved Itachi back, shaking his shoulders so hard that his vision blacked out. "Listen to me! I'm not going to rape you! You really are in trouble, and I have to get you out of here!"

"Uhmmm…" was all Itachi was able to say, as the brains in his head were being scrambled by Orochimaru's violent shaking him. Rain was now pouring while lightning flashed in the almost black sky. It struck the other side of the hill quite a bit.

Orochimaru stopped shaking Itachi. "Let's go!"

Itachi swayed on his feet a little. "Uhh…" he groaned.

Orochimaru took his wrist. "Come on, there's not much time!"

Itachi whipped his wrist out of Orochimaru's grasp without saying a word. He was not currently capable of speaking.

**:)**

Meanwhile, Sasuke had come to the other side of the hill. It looked more like a treacherous cliff than anything.

"Oh, come _on_!" he droned upon seeing this. Well, what could be done? He had to follow the path, and there were no shortcuts around it, as far as he could tell.

Poor Sasuke was nearly out of chakra from a previous battle, but he mustered up as much as he could in his hands and feet, and began to inch his way up the mountain.

He hadn't even gone two inches before sweat began to trickle down his face. But he kept pushing himself, refusing to run out of chakra.

As he got further and further up the mountain, he suddenly heard the sound of thunder clapping in the light gray sky.

Raindrops began lightly falling. Sasuke didn't think much of it. It probably wouldn't get any worse.

Unfortunately, he had thought wayy too soon. Because right as that thought had crossed his mind, the rain began pouring, the sky darkened, and lightning was now ripping the sky apart.

"Aww, come on!" he yelled in exasperation. He kept climbing the slippery, rocky cliff, hoping that he wouldn't run out of chakra.

Suddenly, lightning was coming down at him. Reflexively, Sasuke dodged the lightning, only receiving a small slice on his arm. Another bolt charged for him, but he dodged it swiftly. Another came upon him, and another, but he kept dodging the dangerous bolts.

"ARE YOU FRICKIN' SERIOUS!" he yelled up to the heavens. It was almost as if someone wanted him to die.

**:)**

The demonic angel giggled in her mansion. She was looking down upon a small model of a hill, one side evenly sloping up, and the other side rocky and steep. Two small moving action figures were arguing on the top while one was rock climbing on the other side. For not having much chakra in him, the lone one was doing pretty good on getting up there.

Himiwari couldn't let this happen. He couldn't get to the top. She smiled as she moved her finger, causing clouds to roll into the sky of the model. She caused a light sprinkle for a few moments, before letting it all down. She darkened the sky and added lightning to the terrifying scene.

A small Sasuke, disguised as Itachi, did not look too happy. Well, he would look way worse in a little while.

Himiwari waved her finger, straight at the small Sasuke. A lightning bolt shot out at him. But he dodged it. At least she had drawn blood.

She shot out bolt after bolt, each one he dodged. It was beginning to get a bit frustrating, but she'd get him.

"Hehehehe!" she laughed.

**:)**

Aname was panicking. She had to do something! Anything! Sasuke was about to get killed!

She paced back and forth nervously. She would inform everyone that she could get to help them. The Akatsuki? Konoha? Kisame? That was all she could think of right now.

She closed her eyes and let three copies of herself down to where everyone she would tell were. Suddenly, she realized something else she could do. She sent another copy of herself down.

Now… how to stop Himiwari?

**:)**

Everyone in the Akatsuki sat in the living room, watching Pokemon on T.V… until the power went out.

"Aww, come _on_!" Sasori yelled frustrated. Everyone turned to look out the window, only to see the storm of the century outside.

"OMFG!" Hidan shrieked. "We're screwed if we have to go outside."

"Not me," white Zetsu said. "I could use a nice water."

"**No, I'm NOT going out there!**" black Zetsu snapped back.

"Aww, MAN!" Zetsu whined.

Pein was silent. The water made him think about Kisame… _WHAT HAVE I DONE!_ was the only thought running through his head as he watched the water pouring outside. Things just weren't the same without Itachi and Kisame.

"Akatsuki!" a random voice said. It was beautiful, soothing, musical.

Everyone looked around the room.

"Did you guys hear that?" Konan asked. Everyone nodded while looking around the darkness in wonder.

"Akatsuki!" the crystal clear voice called again. As the voice rang like a bell throughout the lair, a bright ball of light shone in the middle of the room, blinding the villains.

"AUGH! WHAT THE F*CK!" Hidan yelled, grabbing onto Deidara.

"Hey, man, get off, un!" Deidara yelled, knocking his best buddy cruelly to the ground.

Before Hidan was able to punch Deidara in the face, the light turned into an abnormally short and beautiful glowing girl with long red hair. She looked around anxiously at each member as they stared back, fascinated.

Aname took a deep breath. What should she say to them all? She started to weakly introduce herself. "Hello, Akatsuki. I'm Aname. And I'm here because I need your help… well, actually it's not me that needs your help…" Jaws dropped open at the impossibly lovely girl. Even Konan looked like she was checking her out a little (… awkward…). The angel paused again, eyeing them all closely before continuing. "You'll think I'm full of shit when you hear it. Sasuke and Itachi did. But I'm the Uchiha's guardian angel." _Almost_, she added on in her head. "And they're in trouble! Big trouble!"

Sasori stood up, surprising them all. "I'll go and get my puppets," he announced, rushing on up to his room.

No one else was as sure as Sasori when this happened. The kept in their seats, staring at the girl.

"So, you're acquainted with Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha?" White Zetsu asked.

"I told you, I'm their guardian angel!" Once again, Aname added on the word "almost" in her head.

"Where the hell are your wings?" Hidan asked.

Aname frowned, her eyebrows intensely furrowed. She stormed up to Hidan, balled her tiny hand into a fist, and sent him clear across the room, smashing through the wall into the kitchen, across the kitchen, and cracking the wall behind the stove.

"Ouch…" everyone said in unison, cringing.

Aname whipped around. "Who's next?" she asked daringly. The Akatsuki shook their heads.

Pein cleared his throat. "Well, she _did_ magically appear…" he pointed out. "And she's uh… glowing…"

Konan stood up as well, staring at Aname. "I believe you," she drawled seductively.

Everyone sweatdropped.

**:)**

"Well, I guess it would be NICE… if I could touch your body. I know not everybody, has got a body like you… oohh…" Ever since being banned from the Akatsuki, things have just started looking up for dear old Kisame. (KISAME'S BACK! Who's missed Kisame? I sure have! :D). The ocean was where he belonged. With sharks galore, he had found one in particular that he favored most. Her name was Taikai. Don't even ask how he knew this because she couldn't talk.

Kisame sat on a wooden dock that reached far into the ocean with Taikai in the waves just beneath him. She listened to him serenade her on his guitar.

"But I gotta think twice…" he continued singing, "Before I give my heart away, and I know all the games you play, because I play them too." Taikai began doing flips in the water. "Ooh, but I need some time off from that emotion, time to pick my heart up off the floor!" Kisame suddenly felt some type of odd presence, but he ignored it. "Oh, when that love comes down without devotion—" Kisame stopped in mid sentence. Silence came as he squinted into the distance. Was he really seeing what he was seeing?

Far off, he thought he could see a glowing figure gliding across the water. A ghost?

"Taikai," he said quietly. "Swim away quickly. I think we're in trouble."

Taikai looked up at Kisame, then followed his eyes in the direction he was staring. She didn't quite seem to process though, because she continued flipping around in the water.

The figure was getting closer. It was coming at them wayy too fast. "Taikai, leave!" Kisame said, panic rising in his voice. He stood up, set down his guitar, and began walking towards the figure. Maybe it was just a normal ninja. He wasn't in the mood for fighting, so maybe they could settle things out.

However, as he got closer, he realized that there was something weird about this girl. She really was glowing, and she was REALLY super short and rather beautiful.

"Kisame, I found you!" she said hysterically.

Kisame shook his head down at the woman. "Whoa, _what_? Did I miss something here? Who are you and how do you know me?"

"Okay, that's not as important!" Aname yelled, frustrated and panicked. Beneath their feet, Taikai swam up next to Kisame. He dropped himself into the water and began to stroke her smooth skin, looking suspiciously up at the girl. "I have a bigger problem on my hands here! And I need your help!"

Kisame's eyes narrowed. "Well? What do you want from me then? Can't you see I'm busy?" He motioned with his head down at Taikai.

Aname looked down at the shark and slapped her forehead. "Look, your best friend and his brother are in trouble and they need all the help they can get!"

"Hold on a sec…" he said slowly. "Are you talking about Itachi Uchiha?"

Aname nodded her head.

Kisame cocked his head to the side. "How do you know?"

"I'm well acquainted with both Uchiha brothers. I'll explain everything on the way! Just come with me." She was obviously very stressed.

Feeling mildly worried, Kisame looked down at Taikai. "Don't worry, baby! I'll come back for you!" Then he smooched her on the head and climbed out of the water, soaking wet. "Now tell me everything" he said.

Aname smiled up at him and began running. Kisame joined her. "It's a weird story, but just hear me out. It all started just right before you found out that Itachi had flown out his bedroom window and found him in Suna…"

**:)**

Last stop: Konoha.

I guess I don't have to tell you that it was literally pouring buckets of water from the sky.

Tsunade was almost worried that there would be a flood in Konoha, so she ordered her guards to go and open up the gates.

"Aww, but Tsunade!" one complained.

"We don't want to get wet!" Another said. Pitiful excuse for letting a flood happen.

"Well, you WILL get wet anyways if a flood happens!" Tsunade yelled, slamming her hands down on the desk, still frustrated about Sasuke's departure. "Now GO and OPEN THE GATES before I count to three!" she yelled, as if they were children.

"BUT TSUNADE!" they yelled in unison.

"One…"

"Come on! Don't do this to us!"

"_Two_…"

"Please! Please don't make us go out there!"  
"THREE!"  
"AUGH! OKAY, WE'RE GOING, WOMAN!"

Then they were gone. That is NO way to treat the Hokage.

Tsunade fumed in her desk, completely shattering her glass of tea in her hand. Who did those MORONS think they are!

Suddenly, light shone through her window, as if the sun had just come back out. Tsunade quickly turned around, only to get blinded by an incredibly bright light. Her eyes widened. "What is this…?" she asked herself out loud.

The light began to move away from the window until it was once again dim in her office.

Before you could say "bunnies," (once again, please don't ask) Tsunade jumped up, threw on her green jacket, and ran down the spiraling halls until she reached the staircase outside. She whipped her head from side to side. Where had it gone? Had she just been seeing things?

"Tsunade!" called a familiar voice.

"Neji? Is that you?" Tsunade asked, squinting through the rain. Neji wasn't even visible in front of her.

"It's me! Look, you have to listen to everything I say." Tsunade felt his hand close around her wrist. Now she could see his blurry figure, as he carefully, yet quickly, led her down the stairs. "All of Konoha has to go and rescue Sasuke and Itachi—"

"Wait… what!" Tsunade asked in disbelief. She tugged away from the young Jonin. "What are you saying!"

"Listen, I'll explain! But we have to hurry, they need all the help the can get!"

"How do you know? Why would we want to rescue them? They'll just cause trouble!" a flustered Tsunade blubbered.

"Just follow me, I know where we're going. Trust me."

"No, I refuse! This is nonsense!" Tsunade continued.

Neji slapped his forehead. "But you have to go with us! This is important!"

"WHY!"

Neji thought hard. "Uh…" he said. How could he make her go with?

"That's what I thought," Tsunade said, dignified. She adjusted her jacket over her shoulders, turned on her heel, and started back up the stairs.

"Jiraiya's going," Neji said spontaneously.

Tsunade stopped. "He is?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "Jiraiya is going with the rest of Konoha. I'll bet he's gonna miss you." Neji thought about the ridiculous things he was saying. But anything that woud work was worth it. Even though he was telling the truth, Jiraiya was the most enthusiastic about going to go and kill Orochimaru.

The Hokage whipped around and glared down at Neji. "Fine," she said. "But this is the only time I'm listening to _you_."

"Okay, that's fine," Neji said. He did a victory dance inside his head.

**:)**

Right before the Akatsuki had left, Sasori turned to Deidara. "Hey, Deidara," he asked. "Where's Tobi, anyways? He just up and disappeared since this morning."

Deidara shrugged. "Ah, who even cares, anyways? We're all better off without him."

Mmm, too bad none of them knew what "Tobi" was really up to…

* * *

**You should all be stoked for the next chapter! It'll be a good one! :D Please review to relieve my stress!**


	23. Clash Of The Characters

**I'm glad that I could get this chapter up so soon :) This has got to be the longest chapter yet. I swear, I stayed up all night writing it with excitement! :D So I hope that it's enough to please you guys so much that you all review! :) And if you haven't looked at my youtube channel, please do :) Enjoy!**

* * *

The rain that was pounding violently on Itachi's head didn't quite help his wooziness. He swayed and rocked in place as his knees wobbled dangerously beneath him. He let out a miserable groan.

Orochimaru attempted to tug on him, but Itachi had enough sense in him not to follow. He planted himself to the path with chakra.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Orochimaru yelled over the pounding rain, exasperated with the Uchiha.

**:)**

His yell clashed with Sasuke's as he attempted to continue his treacherous climb. Now, lightning was shooting at him in many directions, making it nearly impossible to dodge.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, frustrated and frightened that he might die. Lightning continued mercilessly striking at him. Sasuke was running out of chakra, but he did everything he could to cling to the mountain. To cling to precious life.

**:)**

Himiwari, as you know, was being rather cruel about the whole thing. Zap! Zap! Zap! The lightning she sent out just got bigger, more electrifying. But man, Sasuke was _really_ good at dodging... it was frustrating.

She furrowed her brow, stood up on her table, and shot lightning bolts from every finger on both hands. They somehow missed Sasuke.

"DRATS!" she screamed. But she refused to give up. Zap! Zap! Zap!

**:)**

"Sasuke-kun, do you _want_ to die!" Orochimaru yelled.

Itachi just groaned in response.

Orochimaru tightened his hold on Itachi's hand, sent chakra to it, and tugged with all his might. But of course, the Uchiha wouldn't budge.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" Orochimaru screamed in disbelief.

"HEY!" a familiar, rather obnoxious voice yelled.

The Jinchuuriki stood in front of a large group of shinobi, a Hyuuga boy at his side. They looked crossly over at Orochimaru.

The pedophile narrowed his snakey eyes. "Naruto..." he hissed.

"Get away from him," Naruto warned.

Orochimaru shook his head like a 2 year old. "No!" he whined before continuing his game of tug-of-war.

"I said," Naruto said menacingly, "get away from him." His voice was dangerously quiet.

"I will NOT get away from Sasuke-kun! He's in trouble!" Orochimaru said angrily as Itachi let out another groan. His eyes looked like they were about to roll into the back of his head.

"Uh, that's actually not Sasuke," Naruto pointed out. "That's Itachi."

Orochimaru let go of the Uchiha's wrist as if it were a hot oven. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaatttttt!" he squealed. "That is just INSANE! You're lying!" he said, pointing accusingly at the citizens of Konoha.

"No, he's not lying," Neji said. "That really is Itachi."

Itachi fell over, out cold.

"Itachi-san!" Naruto, Neji, and Orochimaru all cried in a worried voice.

"You will NOT get your filthy hands on him OR Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, storming over to Orochimaru.

"My hands aren't filthy! I washed them earlier today!" Orochimaru said, holding up his hands. "Besides, he belongs to me! He always has!"

Naruto stopped, confused. "Wait... I thought you wanted Sasuke..." he pointed out.

Orochimaru's eyes widened. "Um, he belongs to me too!" he said.

"Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You... You...You..." he said, wanting to call him the dirtiest, cruelest name of all. But all the poor, sad, strange boy could muster up was "dummy!"

There was an awkward silence.

**:)**

Sasuke was running out of energy, and chakra. His eyes drooped. Would this be the end? The very end of his pathetic, sad, dull life?

Sasuke clinged on a little longer. "Itachi, I'm sorry..." he thought to himself, hoping that his brother could hear him somehow. "I'm so sorry I couldn't make it. We were so close to being reunited, but I was weak. Please, forgive me."

As lightning slashed square across his stomach, Sasuke weakly let go of the side of the cliff and began to fall in slow motion, blood seeping through his brother's Akatsuki cape.

Then his hand was caught on something.

"Hang on, Sasuke, I got you," a familiar voice echoed. Maybe it was an angel. That sounded exactly like...

**:)**

Neji sweatdropped. This was ridiculous.

Naruto and Orochimaru were having a fight. A girl fight.

Both were flailing their hands in front of them, just like classic girls would do.

Tsunade face palmed. "I'll handle this one!" she yelled. She walked up to Orochimaru and Naruto and punched them both in the face, knocking Orochimaru towards the cliff, and Naruto to the forest on the other side.

Jiraiya approached the Hokage. "Nice," he said. She smiled up at him.

Suddenly, who came crashing through the forest, carrying Naruto over his shoulder?

"Wha...? YAHIKO!" Jiraiya cried as he saw his former pupil, leading an entire organization of villans.

"YOU!" Sakura yelled as Sasori appeared. "I thought I killed you!"

"Nobody dies in Akatsuki," he said. "We just quit going on missions is all."

The pink haired girl stamped her foot before looking over at Pein. "And _you_! Give him back!"

Pein looked blankly at the feisty kunoichi. "Look, I'm not going to take him away," he said.

"Then give him back RIGHT NOW!" Tsunade yelled angrily.

"I'm NOT about to lose another student!" Jiraiya yelled.

"Look, we're all here for the same reason," Pein said matter-of-factly. "To rescue the Uchiha boys. From _him_!" Pein's eyes narrowed as he pointed an accusing finger at the rogue Sannin.

Orochimaru looked startled. "Me? What did I do?" he asked blankly.

"You imbecile!" Kiba jumped in. "Can you not see why we want to get them away from you! You've been after them for years!"

Everyone yelled out their own agreeing statement and began closing in on the snake man.

"What!" he wailed. "We're not on the same page! I was here to rescue Sasuke from getting killed by Itachi! But this is Itachi, and now I just want them both to be safe! Don't hurt me!" he whined.

"You're full of shit, you know!" Ino yelled in her most sassy voice.

"Yeah, you're probably trying to rape the boys!" Hidan yelled.

Everyone agreed with him.

"NO! I'm really not going to rape them!"

"How do we know that?" Sasori questioned.

"How do we know that you were going to rescue them in the first place?" Neji asked. Everyone began to close in on Orochimaru.

He looked at each face innocently. "No! I'm not lying to you!"

"Guys, he's telling the truth."

Everyone turned around to see Ino, her eyes closed in concentration. They opened as she eyed them all seriously. "The Yamanaka clan's most advanced and original jutsu: mind reading." she explained. "It takes up a lot of chakra. And it's only supposed to be for the most advanced of us." She looked down at Orochimaru. "He's right. He just wanted to rescue Sasuke in the first place. He didn't show up to rape them."

"So what do we do now?" Tsunade asked.

There was an awkward silence.

"BOOM!" The silence was broken, startling a slumbering Naruto.

"WHAAA!" He screamed, tumbling off of Pein's shoulder.

"Hey, you okay, pal?" Deidara held out his purple finger nailed hand out to the Jinchuuriki.

It took Naruto a while to figure out who it was. "AUGH! AKATSUKI!" He quickly scrambled to his feet and hid behind his mentor. "Save me! Save me!" he cried, clinging onto Jiraiya's shirt.

"Hey, moron! Get off!" Jiraiya yelled, shaking his student off his back.

"But _why_, Pervy Sage!" he whined

"WHAT!" Jiraiya yelled back.

Their argument was interrupted as a familiar man shot up from the edge of the cliff. A man who resembled a shark was clinging onto a figure who looked pretty much dead.

Itachi. Or should I say Sasuke?

Everyone gaped at Kisame first. No one was quite expecting to see him here.

"Kisame! I'm so happy to see you! I'm sorry!" Pein cried, both relieved and excited to see his former member.

Kisame eyed his once-upon-a-time leader. "No time for that. We'll talk later. Sasuke is severely wounded." Kisame was now carrying the young man bridal style, carefully shielding his wound from the rain. "Is anyone here a medical ninja!" he asked desperately. "This wound needs immediate attention! It's very severe!"

Tsunade began to step foreward, but was suddenly pushed aside by a hysterical Sakura. Tsunade smiled. _That's my girl_, she thought to herself as she watched Sakura run at lightning speed up to Kisame and Sasuke.

She looked up at the blue man, tears flooding in her eyes. "I'm a medical ninja," she said as clearly as she could in between dramatic sobs.

Kisame stared at her for a moment before placing Sasuke down in front of her. "He's all yours, cotton candy head," he said, smirking sarcastically.

Usually, Sakura would've punched him hard, but this was Sasuke's LIFE we're talking about. So instead, she just began crying harder as she sent green chakra running to her hand. She placed her hand over his stomach.

The wound slowly subsided, but didn't go away completely. He would probably need stitches. Sakura let her tears land on his face with the rain. Would he make it? She pressed her head to his chest only to hear shallow, slow, uneven beats. He was barely alive.

"Stay with me, Sasuke, _please_ stay with me!"

Now what was Himiwari doing...?

**:)**

Himiwari would have had more action going, anything to keep everyone from showing up like this. But unfortunately, her evil plan was about to go on probation.

She had sent a bolt of lightning slashing across Sasuke's stomach. She watched as he began falling. _Yes_, _finally_...

"Himiwari!" a sudden voice had come across the room with the sound of a door creaking open, just as this was happening. Before the evil angel could see what happened next, she whipped her head around, her silvery hair spiraling and hitting her in the face. "You! What are _you_ doing here!"

Aname stood in the center of the grand doorframe. She finally felt powerful instead of vulnerable in Himiwari's presence. She would win. "And just WHAT do you think you're DOING!" Aname said sternly.

Himiwari narrowed her eyes. "I refuse to let you surpass me," she said. "You've just gotten here to heaven, and now you get a chance to be a guardian angel? For _two_ young men!" Himiwari snorted sarcastically. "Ha! As if! I've been here for YEARS! _YEARS_, I tell you! You think I'm going to let you become a guardian angel for TWO men, while I just get to sit here and worship you! FAT CHANCE!"

Aname glared right back. "You don't deserve that title," she said menacingly. "But I did, because guess what? I actually care!"

Himiwari smirked. "Well, this must be a joke! A sick, cruel joke!" she said, laughing in disbelief as she studied the short little girl. "I mean, just LOOK at you! You're not a real angel, you're just a weak, short, hideous JOKE! A disgrace to all angels, whether fallen or in heaven! You don't even have any wings!"

Aname's blood was now boiling inside of her. Her pale face flushed red. Himiwari was saying something, but Aname couldn't hear her. She was too angry to listen.

Finally, Aname slammed the door shut with a loud "CRACK!" as the wall around the door nearly crumbled behind her. She didn't seem to care. "I'm more of an angel than you'll EVER be!" she screeched. Then she flung herself at Himiwari.

Himiwari jumped up on the long table and squealed, but then laughed evilly. "You'll never be able to fix this!" she said, her eyes widening like a psycho as her smile grew large on her smooth face. "I've sent the strongest shinobi in the WORLD to stop it all from happening! You'll NEVER get anywhere!"

Aname stopped in her tracks. Then she shook her head before charging back at Himiwari, sending the demon across the room, hitting the huge picture of herself with darts sticking out in various places on her body. Aname grimaced.

The fight was on.

**:)**

The fight was also on down below...

Itachi's eyes drooped open. Everything was spinning. Voices echoed his name.

"Itachi! You're alright!"

"Ugh, where _am_ I...?" he droned, placing a hand to his wet forehead. He slowly sat up.

As if he were a famous star, everyone imaginable, Konoha, the Akatsuki, Orochimaru, were all suddenly leaning into him, clouding his vision, asking him if he was okay. Their voices clashed with one another.

"People, I'm _fine_," he said casually. Everyone let out a breath of relief.

"Itachi-san! I've MISSED you SOOO much!" Uh-oh.

Orochimaru's hands were now wrapped around his waist, nearly suffocating him.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Itachi screamed. Orochimaru didn't seem to hear.

"Itachi-san, I've never fully stopped loving you!" he said quietly. Then he looked deep into his eyes, and suddenly all he could see was Orochimaru. Then, all he could feel was Orochimaru. Poor Itachi wasn't expecting anything, so he just sat there helplessly as Orochimaru fulfilled his fantasy...

Finally, Itachi reacted by SHOVING THE HELL out of Orochimaru by kicking him in the balls. "AUGH!" Itachi and Orochimaru yelled in unison, Orochimaru pained and Itachi disgusted.  
"I just had a SNAKE TONGUE in my MOUTH! OROCHIMARU JUST KISSED MY BROTHER!" Itachi began wiping off his toungue with his hands.

"Itachi, WHY!" Orochimaru cried, clutching his balls.

Itachi suddenly stopped. "Hang on," he asked, looking around at the large group of people who obviously didn't belong on the same team. "How do you all know who I am?" he asked.

"That Aname girl told us," Shikamaru said. "She came to all of us and told us to come here."

"EWWW! ITACHI JUST GOT KISSED BY OROCHIMARU!" Naruto screeched.

"Yeah, that's kinda sick."

The voice was so sudden, just like they had all gotten stabbed spontaneously by kunai. Each shinobi carefully turned around, only to see...

"Tobi?" Deidara asked in disbelief. "You... you talked normal... You didn't sound all obnoxious and hyper, un..." he said, obviously shocked.

"And what are you DOING here!" Hidan added.

The shinobi smirked behind his mask. "Not many of you know my true identity. Except Pein and Itachi, that is."

Pein smacked his forehead. "Well, THIS will get ugly..." he muttered as Itachi "Ugh'"d.

Slowly, yet surely, the shinobi tore off his mask, reviling his true identity. "I am Madara Uchiha." He had a sharingan eye, but the other had a patch over it.

Everyone gasped in surprise.

"No, it can't be!" Kakashi said, shocked. "You were Madara all along?"

"Yes, Kakashi, I was," Madara said. "Do you remember all we've been through together? When I despised you, and you despised me, up until the day I died?" He smirked. "That wasn't real. Obito wasn't real." His sharingan was piercing. Ino fell to the ground. Something about his sharingan had affected her. Asuma rushed to her side.

"Ino!" he picked her up and slung her over his shoulders like a rag doll. "i must go and care for Ino," he told the Hokage. She nodded and he hastily retreated into the forest.

Itachi looked at him, glared at him. He knew of the great and terrible powers Madara possessed better than anyone in the world. He stepped up. "I'll take him," he said bravely.

Everyone gasped while Madara smirked.

"Itachi, no!" A quiet Hinata spoke up for the first time. Everyone turned around to look at the shy, reserved girl, staring nervously at Itachi.

The Uchiha smiled reassuringly. "Hey, don't worry about me," he said. "I've got this."

He turned back to Madara, who just smiled evilly at Itachi. "So, this is the thanks I get for keeping you alive?" Madara asked. "Well, if you say so..." he said with a shrug.

That sentence was said in super slow-mo in Itachi's world. He knew the tone in Madara's voice meant he would attack, RIGHT after the sentence was said. He had to do something. FAST. To prevent the attack from happening at all. To prevent further chaos.

Before Itachi thought of what he was doing, he did exactly what Orochimaru did to him. Pressed his lips firmly against Madara's into a "passionate" kiss.

"OMFG, ARE YOU SERIOUS!" Hidan yelled in the background as Naruto just screamed in disgust. Everyone just stared and sweatdropped. _He's mental_, was the thought running through everyone's mind.

When Itachi pulled away from Madara, he looked at his shocked, frozen expression. This was exactly what he had wanted. He quickly whipped out a kunai, and stabbed him through the head. Blood spurted out everywhere, splattering Itachi's face. It felt gooooood... :P"

"AUGH!" Madara yelled in pain, his hands wrapped around the kunai. His knees wobbled and gave way, and he fell to a silent death.

"Yeah, real tough," Itachi said before a session of choking and gagging. The whole group held back the giggles. But Sakura was in her own world, desperate to fix Sasuke.

**:)**

Himiwari had Aname pinned against the wall. She had lost all her feisty strength.

"Mmm, let's make this slow and painful, shall we?" she asked with a smile.

Aname said nothing, as she was much to weak to have a conversation.

Himiwari flipped out a kunai, then ran her tongue across the blade. "Poison," she explained.

Aname watched this helplessly, her eyelids drooping over her blood red eyes.

"Let the fun begin!" Himiwari chanted. She stabbed the kunai through Aname's stomach. Now, Aname had enough energy to scream.

"AAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHHH!" The poison seeped through her body and began to flow through her bloodstream. She felt like she was on fire.

"Whoo!" Himiwari's happy yell clashed with Aname's pained scream. "How does THIS feel!" She poked her blade on Aname's face and slashed it across. Aname screamed even louder, her eyes filling up with tears that spilled over.

Suddenly, Himiwari heard something. It was from her model of the hill. A man was yelling. She turned around, only to see a kunai poking through Madara's skull as he fell to the ground, dead.

"WHAT!" she cried. She ran over to the model, leaving Aname to collapse on the ground, sobbing in pain. "No! This is NOT fair!" She climbed upon the table.

"HIMIWARI!" A booming voice yelled.

The devilish girl was devastated. And she knew whose voice that was. Who didn't? This only meant one thing.

Himiwari's plan would fail.

**:)**

Itachi had now made it on the ground, hacking and coughing. The group was surprised that he hadn't coughed up a lung yet. Poor thing had kissed two guys in one day...

All of a sudden, there was a bright light from the sky, which was now just lightly sprinkling. A girl with silvery white hair crashed onto the ground with a big "CRASH!" She sat up, looking very unhappy.

"Himiwari?" Orochimaru said shocked. He violently pushed through the crowd and to the woman's side. "Himiwari!" he yelled, worried.

"Himiwari just looked down at her hands. Where were her powers? Where were her wings?

"I'm..." she couldn't finish the sentence.

"What? You're what?" Orochimaru asked. This was starting to look like a soap opera.

Before Himiwari could answer, another light came from the sky, and a little redhead landed gracefully on her feet, now unscathed and de-poisoned. Himiwari could do nothing but glare.

"It's all your fault!" Himiwari said to Aname. "If it weren't for you! I would still... I would still..."

Aname just looked sympathetic. "Himiwari," she said. "It wasn't my fault. You were jealous. And you didn't have to be. I mean, LOOK at you! You're far more pretty than I am. And you had wonderful wings."

Himiwari's eye narrowed.

"Where _are_ your wings, anyways?" Orochimaru asked curiously.

Himiwari took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I'm mortal," she quickly responded. She hung her head. "I shouldn't have been jealous. I should've been nicer. But I just had to be better than everyone. And I'm realizing my mistakes too late."

Aname walked over to Himiwari. "At least you're still seeing them," Aname said. "This can be a great new start. And when you grow old in this life then you should get a second chance in heaven."

Himiwari gave Aname a small smile. "Thank you," she said. Then she frowned again. "But where will I go? What will I do?"

"You'll stay with me," Orochimaru said. Himiwari looked at him. Orochimaru continued speaking. "When I first saw you, I was amazed at everything about you. And when you left, I was almost devastated that I'd never see you again," he explained. "But now, you'll always stay with me instead of disappearing." He remembered how he had tried to take her hand before she had completely vanished. Now, he really took her hand. It was solid, not going anywhere. Himiwari stared wide eyed at him. "Himiwari, will you stay with me?" Orochimaru asked.

Himiwari was shocked at first, but then smiled. "Yes," she said.

Orochimaru smiled. If she was mortal, then he had a feeling that he wouldn't need any more vessels. He leaned in and quickly smooched her on the lips (OMG, HE'S STRAIGHT! WHOO!).

Everyone gave the two a round of applause.

Once the clapping subsided, Tsunade walked confidentally up to Pein and held out her hand. "Let's make peace," she stated with a friendly smile on her pink lips.

Pein stared for a while, then gave a rare smile and took her hand and shook it. Another round of applause and cheering.

"And if you want, you can stay with us in Konoha," she offered. "Kisame, you can come too."

Kisame smiled. "Okay," he said. Clapping.

Pein smiled larger. "Deal," he said with another firm shake of the hand before letting go. Even more clapping and cheering. "And I promise NEVER to take another Jinchuuriki again! Naruto, you're safe now!"

HUGE clapping and cheering. Naruto just smiled in surprise as his buddies patted him on the back.

Pein walked over to Jiraiya and held out his hand, just like Tsunade had done to him. "I'm sorry," he said, "sensei."

Jiraiya looked at him, shock. Then he took Pein's hand. "This better not happen again," he said.

"Okay," said Pein.

"WHOO!" everyone cheered and clapped once more.

With all the happiness going on, there was only one thing that they had to worry about. Everyone silently turned their attention over to the youngest Uchiha.

Sasuke.

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**Hope you enjoyed the uber long chapter! Please review! ;) Thanks for reading this story, and I'm glad that many of you have enjoyed it. I've enjoyed writing it! :D Thanks again!**


	24. Resurrection

**This chapter was difficult... and, like I keep saying, "IT" is NOT helping at all! My stupid math teacher gave us homework over the winter break, and when I was leaving with my TONS of homework, guess what she SAID to me! She said: "Merry Christmas!" WTF! If she wants me to have a merry Christmas, wouldn't she NOT give homework! It's not like she'll be grading any papers over the break... she's Satan.  
**

**Okay, enough venting. So, please enjoy, because this took me wayy longer than it SHOULD have, thanks to my stupid freakin' teachers that enjoy tormenting me with homework. . AUGH! Okay, sorry. Review and make me feel better, please!  
**

* * *

Sakura anticipated Sasuke's heartbeat.  
_Boom... Boom boom... boom...  
_...

...

Now there was nothing but silence. Dead silence. No thumping heart against his chest. Sakura kept her ear pressed against him, still holding up her hopes on a small twine.

But she heard nothing.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, please stay with me! Please!"

Silence.

"Sasuke! You're okay, you _have_ to be okay! _Please_ be okay!"

Silence.

"Sasuke!"

Nothing.

"Sasuke, PLEASE!"

Dead silence (no pun intended ;))

"SASUKEEEE!" her scream was blood curdling.

This meant that both of the Uchihas...

Everyone bowed their heads sadly as they watched Sakura cling onto a bloodstained Sasuke. His body was now cold and limp. Itachi had also fallen to the ground, dead, with one last thought in his head:

_At least I'll see him in heaven_.

Then he had collapsed.

The rain sprinkled gently on the sidewalk. The gray sky as gloomy as ever. The falling rain and Sakura's bitter sobs were the only things heard. Naruto rushed to his teammates's sides. Kisame walked over and picked up his former teammate in Sasuke's body and laid him down next to his brother mournfully.

Aname watched the terrible scene of tears and raindrops. What could she do? Could she do anything at all? Even Himiwari was silently sobbing into Orochimaru's chest.

"Aname," a familiar voice sounded in her head.

"God," she silently responded. Then she frowned, to pained for tears. "I couldn't save them. I've failed. Now they're... they're..." she sighed and hung her head. "This was a stupid idea, wasn't it?"

"No, my dear, it was a very good idea." The answer surprised her. "You deserve to be a guardian angel. All that hard work and keeping track of the boys. They don't deserve to end their lives like this. Aname, I shall give you the chance to revive them."

Aname's eyes widened. Was she really getting such an opportunity? To fix such a large mistake?

The voice continued. "Go and revive them. You know what to do. They will be back in their own skin when they awaken."

Aname thought about it a moment. To resurrect someone only a few moments after they died, you had to kiss them, even if they were the same gender (*shudders*). She eyed the brothers. Then, her eyes focused on the eldest. Her body began to move forward, as though she were gliding across the damp ground like a ghost. She made her way through the crowd, Konoha and Akatsuki united into one, all mourning together for the loss of the Uchiha's.

As she dazedly made her way through the crowd, everyone's focus turned to the small angel. They watched as she kneeled beside Itachi's cold body. Sakura's sobs abruptly stopped, and she sat up, her red eyes fixed curiously on Aname. Naruto looked up as well, looking desperate and sad, like a small homeless boy on a house porch, hoping to find a place to spend the night. It was absolutely PITIFUL. Then, something sprouted among the shinobi.

Hope.

Aname looked down at Itachi's stiff body, his eyes closed over his beautiful eyes. She couldn't wait to see those eyes again, happy and smiling once more after all these years of sorrow. She hooked her red hair behind her ears, and the moment she'd been waiting for for ages happened.

She finally got to kiss Itachi.

It was like the story "Sleeping Beauty," only a little backwards. Instead, it was the woman bringing the man to life by a passionate, long-awaited kiss. The world and rain disappeared, and Aname forgot that she was being watched by TONS of people. She didn't care in the slightest.

Finally, she took her red lips from Itachi's pale ones. There was a moment of silence and pure hope among the shinobi as they watched and anticipated the Uchiha's still bodies. Would they awake?

Suddenly, there was sputtering and coughing. Aname whipped her head away from Itachi, only to see Sasuke's coal, tired eyes opening.

"Sasuke!" Both of Sasuke's teammates hovered over him, clouding his vision.

Sasuke sat up. "Ugh, my stomach..." he groaned, looking down at his gaping wound.

"Oh, thank heavens," Sakura sobbed. She gently hugged him, careful not to hurt his critical wound.

"Sakura... Naruto?" Sasuke eyed his former best friend.

Naruto smiled. "Sasuke," he said quietly. Then his expression turned joking. "I win this time! You're coming back to Konoha!"

Sasuke smiled. He had missed his teammates. Kakashi walked over to greet his student. "Good to see you again," Kakashi said in his cool, casual voice, squatting over to Sasuke's level.

Sasuke had missed him, too.

Aname was about to go and embrace him, but there was suddenly more sputtering and coughing. Everyone turned their attention to Itachi, who's eyes were now opening up to see a familiar redhead in front of him. Sasuke quickly appeared in his vision. "Nii-san! Nii-san!" He said excitedly.

Itachi sat up quickly, clutching Sasuke's worn, destroyed Akatsuki robe and looking intently into his eyes, as if he couldn't believe what he was seing. "Sasuke! Aname!" He said, startled.

Aname's eyes filled up with tears of joy and relief. She shook her head and looked at both of the Uchiha's. "Thank God you boys are okay." Then, without a warning, she clutched both of them and squeezed the dickens out of them. Both temporarily quit breathing and their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Aname didn't care.

"They're alive!" Kisame exclaimed. Everyone erupted into a big round of applause, complete with "WHOO!"'s and "YEAH!"'s and all that good stuff. They jumped up and down, hugging and high-five-ing. The Akatsuki and Konoha sure got along well. What a pity they hadn't discovered this earlier.

Aname released them, and her, Itachi, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto all watched. Smiles grew on their faces before breaking out into joyful laughter.

As all this was going on, Aname elbowed Sasuke. "Hey," she said raising her eyebrow mischievously. "You know that pink haired girl?"

Sasuke glanced over at Sakura, her flawless face smiling with her team. "What, Sakura?" he asked in a hushed tone so she wouldn't hear.

"Yeah," Aname said. "You know, she saved your life." Then she winked.  
Sasuke looked nervously over at his teammate, whom he had never really been very fond of, and suddenly something was different about her. He turned back to Aname. "Are... are you serious?" he asked, dumbfounded.

Aname was glad that she wasn't Pinocchio, because her nose would look like a pine tree right now. "Yeah," she said. "She's an amazing medical ninja. By the way," she nodded towards Sasuke's wound. "You'll need stitches, she says."

"NOOO!" Sasuke yelled, silencing the herd of happy shinobi. They all stared at Sasuke, staring down at his wound in terror. "I don't want stitches!" he whined.

Sakura patted his blue raven haired head. "Don't you worry one bit, Sasuke," she said happily. Then she smiled bigger. "It won't hurt one bit. Trust me."

Sasuke stared at her for a moment, then smiled a small, shy smile. "You've really grown up," he said in awe.

Sakura blushed. "So have you," she said. "You've grown up, and grown happier. I like the new Sasuke." she giggled.

Sasuke ran his tongue across his lips. "Well, the new Sasuke is also even more dangerous than before," he said. Itachi and Aname both facepalmed.

"Ooh," Sakura said, her smile growing mischievous. "I guess I better look out."

"Yeah, probably," Sasuke replied, making a clawing motion with his hand.

"Uhmm... O-okay!" Aname quickly said, clapping her hands together. "I think it's about time I show the boys the surprise!"

"What surprise?" they both asked in unison.

"Oh, yeah!"

"I can't wait to see their reaction!"

"Ooh, they're gonna LOVE IT!"

"Yes! Show them!"

"Okay, so I have you guys a surprise. I wasn't sure at first if I should, but I think that you Uchiha's deserve a proper goodbye to..." Two figures walked out of the trees. "Your parents!"

The brothers' jaws dropped upon seeing their mother and father, standing right there, as alive as ever.

"M-mother...?" Sasuke said in shock.

Their mother nodded. "Hi, boys," she said in her sweet tone that her sons had missed.

"...Father?" Itachi squinted at his father.

He nodded. "Good to see you, my sons." A smile appeared on his face.

There was silence as the parents looked at their sons, pleased, while they just stared back, obviously dumbfounded, their jaws gaping open.

Aname walked over and shooed Konoha and the Akatsuki off while whispering, "Let's give them a little privacy." As they walked off on the trail to Konoha, Aname walked up to Itachi and whispered in his ear, "we'll see you in Konoha."

He didn't seem to hear. But Aname left anyways.

"Oh, Anameee!" The little angel turned to see her blue haired female stalker that she had acquired that very day, waving at her on the path. Her cheeks were rosy, and she was smiling broadly at Aname. The redhead groaned. Then, with a pouting face, she reluctantly joined Konan on the way back to Konoha.

Simultaneously, the two brothers stood up, still gawking at their parents, and walked towards the two, poking and touching them all over.

"Are you real?" Sasuke asked stupidly.

Mikoto laughed. "We're only as real as you are," she said, touching her youngest boy on the tip of his nose.

"Have you two been alive all this time?" Sasuke asked, eyeing his three family members suspiciously.

"No, son," his father said. "We were temporarily resurrected."

"Really?" Sasuke was shocked. "How is that possible?"

"Well," Fugaku said, looking seriously into Itachi's eyes before looking into Sasuke's. His eyes were blank, yet full of sorrow. "I think I owe you all an apology. This never would've happened if it weren't for me. Itachi, I pushed you too hard when you were going through so much. And Sasuke, I feel like I've neglected you for all these years. In a sense, I've neglected you both."

Itachi looked at his father, who's disappointment of the past flooded his eyes. He placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Father," Itachi said. "You shouldn't feel sorry. You've made us both stronger than we would have been if all this hadn't had happened." Itachi beamed. "Why, I didn't think I could do such a thing, and without you, I couldn't have been even close to strong enough to do it. It was especially hard to kill my family, my clan, but... you're the one that made me who I am today." He chuckled reassuringly.

Now, Sasuke jumped in. "Father, I understand. I was the youngest, and not nearly as strong as Itachi. But without you, I wouldn't be independent and wanting to learn more. And I've always really looked up to you and Itachi." He smiled.

Fugaku eyed the two. "Are you just saying this?" he asked.

"Fugaku! Why would you ask that? Of course they're not just saying that!" Mikoto scolded.

"It's okay, mom," Itachi said. Then he turned back to Fugaku. "No, we're not just saying it. We're telling you this because it's true. And without you..." he looked at his little brother who smiled at him, and smiled back. "Well, I don't think we'd be as close as we are now."

"But, you guys were already pretty close," Mikoto pointed out.

"Yeah, but..." Sasuke said, "but... we're happier. We're even closer than we were before. And you know what?" he looked up, for once meaning what he said. "I'm glad that I left Konoha. I'm glad that I lived with Orochimaru and got raped. I'm glad that Aname came along and saved us. She's just sewn us closer together. I'm really grateful for all my struggles." Sasuke smiled.

Itachi smiled too, putting his arm around Sasuke's shoulder. "He's right," Itachi said. "I'm glad that I went through all that hell. It was worth it. It's also worth saying a proper goodbye to you guys. I'm sorry, I didn't have a choice..."

Mikoto waved her hand. "No, no! Don't be sorry!" She patted Itachi's cheek with a giggle. "Without you, a war could still be going on. You're a hero, Itachi!"

Itachi was struck with realization. He had always known that he was doing the wrong thing for the right reason, but he never really thought of it as heroic.

"Yeah, Itachi," Sasuke said. "Without you, I wouldn't be a strong shinobi. I would just be a joke."

Itachi smiled. "Aww, shucks," he said. "Well, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere else ever again if it weren't for our guardian angel," he said.

Sasuke sighed. "Yeah, without her, I would still be mad at you for... for everything you did right. I would still think that you hated me. And I would still hate you and want to..." Sasuke stopped, horrified at the thought that not long ago, he had wanted to kill Itachi.

As if she had read his mind, Mikoto smiled reassuringly at Sasuke. "Don't you worry about that anymore. You both deserved a second chance, anyways."

Sasuke smiled back at his mother. They quit talking, and just stood there in utter silence. A rainbow appeared in the sky.

Finally Itachi exploded. He jumped at his parents and hugged them in a death grip, similar to the hug Aname had given him and Sasuke. They hugged him back. Mikoto then began sobbing, sending her oldest son to tears as well. Fugaku wasn't exactly given the "gift of weeping," so he just stood there and hugged his son and wife. Then, he noticed that something was missing.

Fugaku looked up to see Sasuke, standing off to the side, watching his family with a blank, yet thoughtful face. His eyes were squinted, as if he were trying to see something far off in the distance.

Fugaku sighed. "Son," he called. Sasuke suddenly snapped back to reality to see his father, motioning for him to join the group hug. Sasuke darted his eyes nervously around before awkwardly inching over to his family where his father, mother, and brother all embraced him. Ever since "that night," he hadn't really been much for emotion. But it also felt good to be with his family again.

Especially since he knew he would always have Itachi, and their bond was now stronger than anything in the entire world.

Nothing could break that bond again.

* * *

**Hey, thanks for reading! So, I have a quick announcement. The next chapter will be short. Really short. At least that's what I'm expecting. Then after that will be the epilogue (NOOO! D:). I hate to end the story because it's soo much fun to write! But I just want to thank you guys for reading. There shall be more thanks at the end of the epilogue. Once again, review! There aren't many chances left ;)**


	25. Goodbye

**Hi guys! Uhm, I don't really have anything to say, except... MERRY CHRISTMAS! :D I love you all! And also, thanks for your sympathy about the whole homework thing :) And UchihaItachi21, your review made me laugh! Good call, begging to not have homework :D**

**Okay, please enjoy the short chapter! Remember that next is the epilogue. It should be fairly long ;)  
**

* * *

The Uchiha's hugged their parents until they vanished. Simply vanished back to heaven without any warning. Now the two stood alone. Silence overcame them. It was a bittersweet silence, as they both remembered the past, and how they had both felt. Both had felt frightened, scared, upset, sad, and as if they were trapped in a nightmare that was impossible to escape.

That nightmare, it seems like, was finally coming down to an end.

They stood there, not quite knowing what to think now, but minds working and refusing to empty.

Without saying a word, the brothers began to walk down the path. They didn't get far, however, before they heard a voice behind them.

"Sasuke, Itachi, wait."

The two turned around. There, their guardian angel stood, a sullen look on her face.

"Aname, I thought you went back to Konoha," Itachi said.

Aname stepped foreward. "I... I just wanted to say goodbye."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Wait, so you're not staying with us? I thought you were our guardian angel."

Aname now wore a pained expression and looked away. "Well, now that I've nearly successfully completed my mission, you guys no longer need me, unless there's another critical emergency like that was. Besides, now that I've done something this big, they need me in heaven. I have a big responsibility up there, now. But, no matter what," her gaze once again fixed upon the boys, "I'll always be your guardian angel."

Silence overcame them as the brothers wondered what to say back. After a year and a half, it was hard to believe that she was finally leaving them all on their own.

"You know I'm not leaving you," she said, as if she had read their minds. "I'll always watch over you, even if I can't visit."

"Well, will we ever see you again?" Itachi asked.

Aname sighed. "Honestly," she said, shaking her head, "I don't know."

More silence. Bittersweet silence.

Aname stepped foreward towards the Uchiha's and held her small hand out towards Itachi. He hesitantly took it and shook her hand. "Thank you," he said, although he couldn't do anything to show his thanks to the small, petite angel before him.

"Yeah, thanks," Sasuke said as he now shook Aname's hand. He also didn't know if it were possible to show his thanks.

"No, thank you," Aname said. "You guys taught me what I was trying to teach you."

"That Itachi's not guilty?" Sasuke asked.

Aname shook her head.

"That Sasuke's going back to Konoha, whether he likes it or not?" Itachi questioned.

Aname shook her head again. "You guys have to dig deep. I won't get my wings until you figure it out, you know. Then my work will be done."

More silence. Was this really happening?

Suddenly, Aname burst into tears. "Oh my freak! This is ridiculous!" She said hysterically. "Come here, you two!" She yanked them down to her level and squeezed them even tighter than she had previously that day. But it felt good.

They hugged her back, not wanting her to leave.

_I can't believe that it's over_.

Although it didn't seem much like it, all three of them had grown so much over time. From hateful, angry, jealous, ridiculous weirdos, to honest, intelligent, and all grown up.

Aname kissed them both on the cheek before reluctantly pulling away. She had a smile on her face as she wiped tears from her large, crimson eyes that had both happiness and sadness in them.

"We'll never forget what you've done for us, Aname," Itachi said. Then he leaned over and planted a kiss on her lips. He stroked her face before standing back up.

Aname let out another hysterical sob before getting one last look at the two that she had learned to love with all her heart more than anything. But how could she express her feelings?

She would be able to someday. But for now, she had to get them back to Konoha.

"Don't worry, you'll see me again someday. I promise," she said shakily. "I couldn't have been more proud of you guys," she said with a sad, yet happy smile.

Itachi and Sasuke smiled back, the same smile. "Aname, we couldn't have done anything without you," Sasuke said.

"And we couldn't have been more proud of you, too. Good job, Aname," Itachi added.

The small angel looked like she was suppressing a large sob that she insisted on keeping contained. She also looked like she wanted to say one more thing, but if she tried talking, she knew that the sob would escape from her. So instead of saying what she had wanted to, she gave a gift to the brothers instead. A last smile at them before she vanished.

And they appeared back in Konoha.

They were back where they belonged.

They were finally back at home.

And they were staying there for good.

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**Okay, stay tuned for the epilogue :) Review, please!**


	26. Epilogue: It's A Wonderful Life, Sasuke

**Man, I'm kinda sad that it's ending... I've just had soo much fun writing this! :( Well, anyhow, I just wanted to thank everyone who has stuck with me to the end, and before I get into my big speech (which is at the end of this chapter ;)) then please, enjoy the epilogue! Oh, one more thing, you had better review, because i worked frickin' hard on this ending. Okay, now enjoy! :D**

* * *

With all the new immigrants, Konoha was now completely PACKED! Especially since Kisame had insisted upon bringing his shark everywhere in a large, mobile aquarium. He pulled it around like a wagon, through the crowded streets of Konoha. It pissed everybody off, but what could they do about it? Not really anything. So instead, they decided to expand Konoha so there would be room for the Akatsuki. The builders got straight to work, making a special section of Konoha, dedicated to the newest members. They also made the roads bigger for Taikai's mobile aquarium, although it still seemed to plow everything and everyone in it's path. Kisame didn't seem to care much.

Sai came back, not long after the whole big scene, and he was more emotionless than ever. He was like a zombie. He didn't even care that the Akatsuki were roaming the streets, or see anything wrong with that. About a week later, Emiko ran through the gates of Konoha, found Sai in the market, and gave him this whole elaborate "I'm soo sorry, will you pretty please with a cherry on top forgive me?" It took a while until Sai finally forgave her and then... SMOOCH! They kissed as if they hadn't been together for years. Everyone on the streets "Aww!"'d.

Except Naruto. "Blech!" he said.

Once the kiss had ended, Sai looked up. "By the way," he asked Naruto. "Why is the Akatsuki here, anyway.

Everyone sweatdropped.

Anyways, Emiko was now a former princess, and a proud citizen of Konoha.

Not long after all this, the Uchiha boys decided to hold a party at Sasuke's place, which was now where Itachi was staying before he would find his own place. I mean, after all, it was Christmas Eve. And no one else had a party planned.

So, the party began. Everyone in Konoha and the Akatsuki showed up, happy and smiling and having a marvelous time. Orochimaru and Himiwari came as well.

Taikai's tank made everything crowded.

All the girls stood around in a circle and chattered as their eyes fluttered around at the various boys there. Sakura waved at Sasuke. He blushed and waved back, but didn't spoil their fun. He just wanted to observe. Sasori approached Sakura. "Um..." he said quietly. "I have something to show you..."

Sakura blinked. "Um, okay...?" she said slowly.

As if out of nowhere, Sasori pulled out a life sized puppet with pink hair and pale skin. She was also wearing a short tank top maroon dress. "What do you think?" Sasori asked excitedly. "I've been working on this forEVER!"

Sakura stared for a moment before a smile curled on her lips. "It... it looks just like me!" she said enthusiastically.

Sasori smiled. "Thanks, I'm glad you like it," he said, blushing.

"Like it? I FRICKIN' LOVE IT!"

Deidara brought his box set of the first season of his famous Youtube series and handed them out for free. "Merry Christmas!" he said merrily as he handed one to Neji. "Enjoy!"

Neji looked down at the box set in his hand. "You're... you're... this is... I-I mean..." he couldn't stop stuttering as he looked up at Deidara.

Deidara smiled a huge, prideful smile. "Don't you worry, it's soo worth it. You'll love it, and won't be able to get enough. Trust me!"

But before he could say anything else, Neji was jumping up and down. "I can't thank you enough!" Neji yelled before tackling Deidara happily. "I'm you're biggest fan!"

Deidara thought for a moment before something suddenly clicked in his head. "Omg," he said quietly with realization. "You're Hyuuga123!"

Neji rapidly nodded his head.

Deidara's face was drawn up into an excited smile. "Oh my frickin' gosh! You're my favorite person in the world!"

Hidan smirked. "Yeah, don't even acknowledge your best friend," he said sullenly.

Deidara ignored him. He walked off with Neji as they chattered away excitedly.

Hidan watched them. "Dick," he said before striding over to the girls. His eyes were set on Hinata. "Hey, call me Mr. Flinstone, because I can make your bed rock," he said to her.

Hinata gaped at him. "Um... wh-what?" she said nervously

Once Kiba saw this, he ran over to Hidan at the speed of light. "BACK OFF!" he yelled.

Sasuke watched the whole scene with amusement.

"Okay, let's not start any fights," Itachi said from nowhere. He appeared through the crowd of shinobi. "Let's keep the party under control here. I kind of have to go somewhere with Sasuke." He looked over at his little brother and winked. Then he looked at Kisame. "Hey man, do you think you can hold down the fort for me for a while?"

Kisame, who was behind Taikai's aquarium (how the eff did he get that thing in there! O.o), looked funny and distorted. "Sure," he said with a lethargic shrug.

"Thanks," Itachi said. Then he looked at Sasuke and smiled. "Come on, let's go."

**:)**

The two had ended up in a very haunting, familiar place. The sky was no longer a dull, hazy gray, but now this was the perfect place to watch the sunset.

The two boys sat in silence on the porch, the last place that they had really talked when they were both much younger. The silence lasted for a long time. They hadn't exactly really planned to go there. Itachi didn't even know that he had planned on going there, but he just let his feet move, like he had when he had just barely been brought back to Konoha in Sasuke's body.

There was a distant look in Sasuke's eyes, just like he was trying to look at something across the world. Itachi broke the silence. "What are you thinking?" he asked Sasuke.

Sasuke sighed. Could he put into words what he was really thinking? Instead of trying, he just shrugged. "I don't know. I'm thinking a lot of things. It would take a while to explain."

"Well, then I'm all ears," Itachi responded.

_Dammit_, Sasuke thought. He thought about it for a while longer, then gave it a try. "Well, okay. Do you remember the last time we sat on this porch? That was also the last time that we really talked."

Itachi nodded. "I remember," he clarified.

Sasuke continued. "Do you remember what you said to me? The last, meaningful thing that you said?"

Itachi thought for a moment. Then it came. _I'll always be there for you, even if I'm an obstacle for you to overcome_. He didn't realize that he'd said this out loud.

"Yeah, exactly," Sasuke said. Then he smirked and slowly shook his head. "I never knew that what you said was true," he said. "I thought that you had lied to me, but the truth is... you really were always there for me." Sasuke shook his head again. "I don't know why I didn't see that."

Itachi sighed. "I didn't want you to see that, Sasuke. But, in a way, I still kind of wanted you to know that I really would always care about you."

Sasuke took this in. He really did care about him all along. It was hard to believe that not long ago, he had wanted to kill his loving older brother.

"You're upset," Itachi stated, looking at his younger brother.

Sasuke nodded. "A little," he said.

"Why is that?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke sighed. "Well, it's just so hard to believe that, not long ago, we were literally in one another's shoes. And there was just such a rush of excitement when I got to see you again when I knew the truth. That we once had an obnoxious little guardian angel on our backs that would NOT leave us alone." Sasuke laughed when he said this. "It's hard to believe that I once hated that annoying little bitch," he said sadly, his eyes filled with the ghost of his past. "I wanted her to leave, just get away and leave me alone. Let me back into my own skin. But now that she's gone..." Sasuke thought about it. How can he explain it? "Have you ever seen the show 'The Price Is Right'?" he asked Itachi, who nodded in response. Sasuke continued. "Well, I feel kind of like we've won everything on that show. Everything imaginable. Except for that one private island that anyone would have wanted."

Once he had said this, Itachi began to chuckle. Progressively, his chuckle turned into mad laughter.

"What is it!" Sasuke asked nervously.

Itachi sighed and wiped a tear. "Ah, I can't believe that you just related our lives to 'The Price Is Right,'" he said with another laugh. When Sasuke didn't say anything, Itachi grew serious once more. "She's still with us, you know. Even though we can't see her, she can see us. I think that's enough to ask for."

Sasuke's eyes dropped to the ground. "Itachi, what do you think that she was really trying to tell us? I know that she wanted us to see the truth, but she said that she couldn't get her wings until we learned the hidden meaning."

Itachi pondered in silence for bit. "It's tough," he clarified. "I think that she felt how we both felt. Worthless. Like there was almost nothing to live for. Like... like there was no good anywhere. Don't you remember that we both made a wish on a shooting star? The same wish at the same time? She told me that we had both wished the same thing at the same time," Itachi said.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, she told me that too," he said.

Itachi suddenly got a distant look, as if he were taking in every little detail of the sunset. "I'm thinking that maybe she was trying to tell us that... there's really a good side to everything. That we all have our obstacles, some bigger than others, but the truth is that the bigger the obstacle, in reality, the luckier you are. After all, they just make you stronger. And look at how strong we are." Itachi smiled down at Sasuke, who was now getting a look of realization in his eyes. Itachi continued. "We take everything for granted. Everybody does. But the truth is, it's all... everything is just marvelous. Everything, even the most terrible things, have a good side." Itachi's voice now held a tone of realization before he said it: "It's a wonderful life, Sasuke."

Sasuke stared at Itachi. He was right- even going to Orochimaru had made him stronger. There was something good about everything.

Itachi looked back down at Sasuke, whose eyes were widened at him. He almost looked like a small child again. "It may seem weird to you for me to say this. Not most siblings actually say it out loud, but I don't care. Sasuke," he smiled down at his little brother. "I love you. And don't ever forget that, no matter what happens."

Sasuke blinked rapidly in shock before smiling up at Itachi. "Nothing ever will happen, right, Nii-san?"

Itachi shrugged. "I can't promise anything," Itachi said.

"I love you too, Nii-san," Sasuke said softly.

Suddenly, they heard a ringing in the distance. They both perked up and looked to where the ringing was coming from. They saw over the gate, a wreath hanging on a shop door, covered in holly and bells. There was a slight breeze, causing a loose bell to jingle.

Sasuke smiled. "Hey, Itachi," he said. "Did you ever hear that whenever a bell rings, an angel gets their wings?"

Itachi perked up even more. "Really?" he said, surprised.

Sasuke nodded. "At first, I thought it was a myth," he said, "but now I bet that she has the biggest, most beautiful wings that any angel ever has had, or ever will have."

Sasuke was right.

**:)**

_It's oddly remarkable how things in life work. Like coincidences, for example._

_A mind-boggling example of a coincidence would be that two brothers from the exact same clan and exact same town were outside on the exact same night at the exact same time looking at the exact same shooting star and wishing the exact same thing and the exact same time._

_I wish I didn't have to live with myself._

_The oldest, Itachi, had had a difficult fact to live with. He had been ordered by the Hokage to kill his clan, since his father was plotting to take over Konoha with the rest of the Uchiha clan. Itachi was hated by everyone, and was tired of it. He couldn't bring himself to kill his one brother, Sasuke, and every day, he waited for the moment that Sasuke would find him and avenge the clan._

_Was Sasuke ready to face Itachi? Or was he strong enough? Itachi was clueless of these facts, and was tired of waiting to die. He was just simply tired of everything in his depressing life. He was very overcome by sadness and despair_

_The youngest, Sasuke, on the other hand, was simply angry with his life. Why Itachi had killed their clan, he had no idea. Why he had been left alive, he also had no idea. He wanted nothing but to avenge his clan and kill Itachi. But where was he? It seemed like every time he got closer to his older brother, he would just disappear, and Sasuke would have to track him down all over again._

_Sasuke hated everything and everyone. He hated Konoha, his best friends, Sakura and Naruto, his sensei, Kakashi, and, most of all, Itachi. Sasuke was tired of everything in his life as well. And would he ever find and kill Itachi? Would he ever be strong enough? His future held nothing but questions, and he was just plain tired of it. He was very overcome by anger and regret. Regret that he wasn't able to stop Itachi._

_At the exact same time, they thought about how stupid this all was. Wishing on a shooting star? Two brothers, complete enemies, thought of as evil criminals, wishing on a star. They couldn't help but smirk as they both thought this._

_It's very amazing how it all worked. They had done everything at the same time. Not one second off. Not one half second off. Not anything off._

_Little did they know that that night, that moment, would change their lives forever._

* * *

**Okay, time for the big speech!**

**So this fanfic wasn't even supposed to be a humor fic, you know. I wanted a serious, heartfelt fiction, because that's how I feel about Sasuke and Itachi. But right when I began writing it, life just kind of became a big fat joke to me, and so I just kind of started goofing off with the story, and of course, I put a little bit of serious stuff in it ;) So, I'm glad that I found so many people with the same, twisted sense of humor that I do! ^.^**

**One other thing you should know is that I was writing another fanfiction, a HinaIta fanfiction, before this, but I totally blew it off because I had TOO MUCH FUN writing this one! :D I felt glued to the computer and wrote whenever I could! So, as you can see, I really don't want to end it, but every story has it's end. It doesn't matter if I'm writing or reading the story, I always get that bittersweet feeling that I finished the story, but it's over, and it will never be the same again, even if I were to read it again. I'll always know what's going to happen if I'm rereading/writing it. That's how I feel right now, ending this story. It almost feels like it shouldn't be ending! D: Trust me, I would totally continue if it were normal for stories not to end. BECAUSE I'LL FEEL EMPTY SINCE I HAVE NOTHING TO WRITE ANYMORE!**

**Well, I'll have my HinaIta. Maybe I'll throw some humor in there. ;) If you add me to author alert, maybe I'll make my other fanfic funnier, or I can MAYBE attempt a sequel to this one... Or possibly write about Sai and Emiko. Or something else. I don't know yet...**

**Anyways, I can't thank you all enough for reading my fic. I'm soo glad that you all enjoyed it and all the nice reviews that I got just MADE MY DAY! So, like I said before, you had better review this chapter, because I have put a lot of thought into it :) Well, I hate to say this, but that's the end. Bye :)  
**


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